Mass Effect X Halo Spartan Dawn
by Freedom Guard
Summary: Yet another creation of mine to help ease my mind, I hope that everyone does not mind seeing this one. I know there are a lot of crossover with Mass Effect and Halo, but no sense not trying a bit of it in my free time. Story on Ice, Updating all NON Halo stories is priority now.
1. Prologue

.Mass Effect X Halo: The Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bioware or Bungie, so let's not discuss it okay?

Prologue

( ): Thoughts

…

In the vastness of space…

Cortana was busy making one last routine check, she was happy that the beacon she had released recently was still working as the wreckage of the Dawn was still floating in the vast emptiness of space. She had no way of knowing the exact location they were in as the Dawn's NAV Com was lost with the sudden severing of the ship into two and as such, there was no telling where they would be. It was her hope that as they drifted through space, the releasing beacons would at least act like a bread crumb trail for the others to follow.

She hoped that it was going to be the UNSC that would find them first, if not then their allies the Separatists, and if it was the Loyalists, then they were going to have to get rather creative.

The A.I looked at the cryo-tube that housed her only companion and smiled a bit at the slumbering form of Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 or rather, John to those who truly knew him and she was naturally one of those same people. Right now he was still in good hands and alive as far as his vital signs went, but still, it would be a while before he would awaken. She managed to get the reactors working only with a small amount of power to keep the cryo-tube intact for a long time and fully powered as well. No way was she going to let him die on her watch.

When they first met, he didn't quite trust her, but after a while, they both grew on each other and she knew that he had absolute faith and trust in her. That was enough to make him take the risk of going with her plan to end the Flood once and for all as well as the Covenant Loyalists, and it paid off. She knew that there was always a chance that the others in UNSC High Command were going to say that she was Rampant and compromised, and in truth she came very damn close to that as well, but John took the risk and it paid off big time.

And the fact that he had willingly walked into the ruins of High Charity to save her since he promised to come back for her made her even happier to know that he was there. She still felt the age and effects of her long operation time. Cortana knew that she would not have a lot of time left before she did think herself to death, but she had lived a full life as it were…the UNSC Covenant War was over…and now she could spend her time making sure that her Spartan was going to be all right until they were rescued.

She looked at John and smiled a bit, however that smile did not last long when her avatar suddenly flickered and turned red as she hissed gently in pain. She knew the implications of that…she was becoming Rampant, and if it became too much, it would take too long for her to recover and soon, she would either die…or John would have no choice but to terminate her if it came to that.

She feared being deleted, but she would not hesitate to allow John to do what was needed, she hoped it would not come to that, but she would rather be destroyed forever than let her harm anyone, let alone John. She might not have access to her own self destruct mode, but she was more than ready to do what she could to end herself if she ever lost it. However, she also wondered how would John be able to go on without her.

Sure he did fine when she parted with him back in High Charity, but there was no telling just how much trouble they were going to land in at some point in this trip, and considering the fact that John was not exactly the social kind, the last thing she wanted was for him to get the proverbial 'foot in mouth' disease as some humans were known to say.

(Listen to me…I sound like a mother watching over her first born…)

As she thought that, she chuckled a little bit and decided that she could worry about that later, right now, she needed to rest and also do as much as she could manage to arrange her systems properly and make sure that she would still be able to function well enough until she was needed once more. But before she decided to get some extra amount of an A.I's version of good old fashioned sleep, she deployed one more beacon and when she was able to know that the new beacon was well underway, she got to sleep and began to power down.

…

However, it was not long before Cortana was alerted that they were approaching a planet from the passive sensors she had. It was not much, in truth she was barely able to get any more information on the planet they were soon going to be at, her scanners only told her that they were approaching a celestial body with basic physical characteristics of a planet. She powered herself up and began to use her scanners to get a more precise reading.

It took a bit more effort but it paid off as she was finally able to sense through the scanners that the planet was very large and actually had some artificial structures there on the surface, this indicated habitation, but for what? She also knew that they were soon going to be in visual range of the planet. She didn't get any more than that, even though there was enough residual power for the sensors, they were too badly damaged to give her an exact reading and assessment of the planet below them.

This made Cortana nervous, with limited options before her, she had to think of another possible solution, and soon she found it, if there were structures down there, then perhaps there was a ship there as well. It was a lot to hope for, but considering their luck, it was the only option that they had to work with, she decided to power up the cryo-tube and wake John up. The process was not too long even with the damage to the Dawn and soon she looked at his vital signs and found them to be responding nicely to recovery as she also managed to remotely access the MJOLNIR and have a small injection of wake up stimulants given to John.

The Spartan was quick to recover and looked at her as he spoke in the same voice as before, filled with confidence, patience, calm, and authority, he was usually a man of few words, but he was more open with her around.

"Cortana, are you all right?"

Cortana smiled at that.

"Yeah. I'm fine so far, but we've got a situation…and before you reach for your favorite gun, no, it's not what you think, we're reaching a planet."

John might not show it, but the news that they were nearing a planet was good news to him, however, he was not going to leap in head first into something he had no idea about. There was no telling if the world was UNSC owned, Covenant or even Forerunner. He moved to the gun rack and took out his MA5C and checked the weapon and was happy the despite being exposed to the dangers of space, his weapon still worked like a charm. He placed it on his back while using the magnetic soles in his MJOLNIR to move about. He moved to the A.I and spoke.

"You managed to get some data on that planet in question?"

"Not much, the Dawn's scanners are fairly limited and I only managed to determine that we are soon going to be in the area where the planet's gravity will drag the ship down, and there is signs of habitation since there are some structures there, I can't see how many since we're still too far and the scanners are not powerful enough to give a full scale scan of the surface."

John began to think it over and decided that if there was habitation, then there was a chance they could find some transportation to get back home. It was a long risk, but better than nothing, and if there were Covenant and they were Loyalists, then no sense not going in fully armed.

"Do we still have any weapons?"

"Yes, there are at least some supply pods left as well as three functional armories in the ship, not much I'll admit, but it's better than using sticks ad stones right?"

John mentally chuckled at Cortana's attempt at humor and began to reach for the chip but then Cortana's expression became serious and spoke.

"Hold up John…I'm picking up faint traces of incoming signals…they came from the planet, with the Dawn's sensors being this weak I almost didn't detect them."

The Spartan was quick to ready his weapon, he knew that if they were enemy fighters, the lack of gravity in space was going to make shooting them down with his Assault Rifle was an exercise in futility, but it's not like he had much in terms of options. He took out Cortana's data chip and moved to the outside to get a visual of the incoming threats while making sure to remain silent and unseen.

He mentally swore as he recognized just what was coming his way.

"Sentinels…that much mean the planet is Forerunner held land."

There were a small number of standard Sentinels and also a number of Sentinel Majors, John knew that attacking them was a major mistake, however he was surprised when a number of other Sentinels of a different variants came into the picture. One bunch appeared to be rather large and appearing to be better suited for more serious combat and containment procedures. Another bunch were smaller and seemed to be less armed than the other units.

The Spartan had no idea what the other units of Sentinels were and spoke to Cortana.

"Cortana, do you recognize the other Sentinels?"

"Hold on, I'll try and see what I can dig up….all right, the large ones are called Super Sentinels, they are used for countering much larger Flood threats. The others appear to be Protector Sentinels, designed to shield other units in battle with some form of defensive shielding, they don't have offensive weapons of their own as far as the files said. What are they doing here this far out in the galaxy?"

The two watched as the Sentinels closed the gap and began to scan the Dawn Two of the regular Sentinels and one Major moved towards the Spartan and the Master Chief aimed his weapon at them, but they didn't fire, they merely scanned him and then began to move around the Ship. The Protector Sentinels then began to unleash a shield network all over the Dawn and soon began to take the ship down.

The two looked as the shields began to show the effects of entering the atmosphere of the planet before them. They quickly realized that the Protectors were using their shielding systems to protect the Dawn from the heat of re-entry. This told them that they were being brought down to the surface for a reason, what that would be was still lost to them but they knew that they were soon going to find out for themselves either way.

…

On the surface of the planet…

As soon as the Dawn which was still in the shield created by the Protector Sentinels it was guided to a massive platform that seemed to be similar to some sort of landing pad. The Sentinels gingerly lowered the ship to the platform and soon began to power down and move away, this left John and Cortana alone as the other Sentinels left the area. The Spartan and his A.I companion had no idea what was going on so they decided to see for themselves. They made their way down via staircase and soon exited the Dawn and looked about…and what they saw was utterly shocking. The buildings there on the surface were all matching Forerunner design architecture, they couldn't help but look on at the city itself to try and make sense of where they were.

However, it was then than Cortana spoke.

"Chief…we've got company coming our way."

John turned and was surprised to see a Monitor flying towards him and yet instead of the red eye that he had seen in Guilty Spark previously had before. He kept his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle trained at the Forerunner construct and hoped that this was not going to end in the same fashion as before. His MJOLNIR needed a serious upgrade and a lot of repairs despite the fact it looked intact so he knew that if he got into a fight again, then this was not going to end well for both him and Cortana in any fashion.

He and Cortana tensed up as the Monitor flew to them and was accompanied by a pair of Sentinel Majors as well as a quartet of regular Sentinels. It scanned them and soon spoke in a special form of Latin. John was lucky that the Spartan IIs like him had received a good deal of language training and he was able to pick it up. He then spoke to the Monitor in Latin and then spoke that he would communicate better in English.

The Monitor was silent only for a moment until it spoke again though this time it was in English and in a very respectful tone.

"Acknowledged, identity as Reclaimer has been confirmed, greetings Reclaimer to the Homeworld of my makers the Forerunner, I am Home Monitor 952 Tentative Renewal, how can I be of service to you?"

John looked at the floating unit, recalling how Guilty Spark had first appeared and how it turned out between him and the A.I in the end. He was not about to take any chances, but he was not going to antagonize this A.I since he was not sure just what this Monitor was armed with. And the fact that they were not on either the Ark or a Halo Ring told him that this was a totally different situation than with that Rampant A.I. He then spoke to the machine and hoped that this was not going to go the wrong way.

"Where are we?"

"Ah, this is the world of my makers, not one of their colonies by any standard, but the very heart of their once powerful empire."

John and Cortana realized quickly the meaning of that statement and the Spartan II Commando spoke out.

"This is the homeworld of the Forerunners?"

"Yes it is, this was the heart of the vast empire of your fathers as it were. This world was reclaimed from the Flood when the Halo Array was fired no less than 100,000 years ago. After the corruption of the Flood was cleaned away on this world, and the death of many of the Forerunners in the final Battle, those of my makers who survived the battle came back and began to work in repairing the damage while they also began to re-seed the galaxy of life from all the species that they were able to save. Once they were able to restore the balance of this world and make it habitable again while doing their best to sterilize any and all remains of the Flood and re-seeded the galaxy, they created me and gave me the order to keep their once beautiful world clear and ready. For should the time come for your people Reclaimer, to take up their legacy, then this shall be a world that you may one day inhabit and call your own should the need come to that."

The Spartan looked at the massive world before them and there they saw the structures that had been in the records of the UNSC and even from the caches of Covenant data that the UNSC had managed to recover in rare instances that they were able to gain a temporary advantage over the technologically superior Covenant Empire. But instead of the lone number of buildings that were there in the records, these were fully functional structures and facilities…there was an energy about in this city before them and it was vast…a vast world that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Before the Spartan and the A.I, was a massive metropolis that dwarfed any city that the UNSC had in it's possession and while there were not that many structures that resembled the massive space elevators of the UNSC Colonies, the city was indeed powerful and vast in scale as there were massive towers all over the city while still looking as if they and the buildings like them were all able to blend well with the beauty of the restored land that had trees and greenery of many kinds in the world. The two of them looked at the metropolis in wonder as Cortana looked at each structure…recording everything carefully trying to make sure that all the data was able to fit into her systems and not overwhelm her now limited memory space.

The A.I could scarcely believe what she was now witness to…this was not a handful of buildings or one massive facility or even a number of facilities that were connected to one another, this was the very heart of the Forerunner Empire, their crown jewel and the cradle of their civilization. She saw this in the records left to her by the A.I she encountered in High Charity, the only other ally she had when the Gravemind tried to tear her to pieces. The Forerunner A.I Mendicant Bias…it was through the brief moments that she and this ancient A.I could talk without the Flood leader torturing them both that she learned about the War so long ago that doomed the Forerunner Empire…and forced them to fire the Halo Rings.

She then cried out, startling John as the way she cried out was loud enough to cause him pain while her cries also reverberated through the MJOLNIR's system and caused the Spartan's HUD to malfunction and show her crying out and writhing in pain before him as well as her once blue form being covered in angry and painful red before his eyes. He then heard her cry out for him in his ears while whimpering in agony as she had no doubt suffered an attack to her programming.

"John! I…help me…help me please…"

"Cortana! Cortana! Are you all right?"

The Spartan had no idea what was harming her and his reaction was quickly picked up by the Monitor and it scanned the Spartan and quickly detected the problem as it spoke in a concerned tone.

"Reclaimer! What is wrong?"

The Spartan tried to talk to Cortana and tried to find out what had happened to her and why she was suffering from such pain. He however had an idea as he knew that despite his recovery of her, he had no idea what sort of butchery and torture the Gravemind had done to her but the fact that Cortana looked like this and cried this way gave him an accurate idea on what the results were, he tried to remain calm and thought of what his deceased friend Avery Johnson told him before he had to leave his body behind in the replacement Halo Ring.

"Don't ever let her go Chief…Don't ever let her go!"

(I won't lose you Cortana, you and I have been through more than enough. Do you hear me Cortana? I am here and you are not alone anymore, don't give up now…don't give upon matter what.)

It seemed that Cortana heard his thoughts due to her neural link up with him as she began to pant and hold her head while in his mind as she appeared before him and she spoke slowly.

"I…it hurts…I feel tired….I need to rest…I feel so tired…"

John realized that Cortana had been operational too long and was no doubt reaching the dreaded stage of full Rampancy…all UNSC Smart were only allowed to remain operational after seven years, since they would be open to Rampancy at this stage. Rampancy was when a Smart A.I has taken in too much data and their memory cores are trapped into fatal feedback loops that run endlessly in it's core programming systems network. Dr. Halsey phrased it well that it was comparable to a human 'thinking so much that your lungs forgets to breath'. The A.I used up so much of it's computing power that it begins to damage and corrupt itself until they literally think themselves to death.

However, Rampancy could also appear in a Smart A.I due to circumstances and events that push it in many ways, similar to how a person becomes highly aggressive in a situation that is unexpected or highly stressful. Another was when it gains so much data that it eventually realizes that it's limits and such discoveries place the A.I on edge. There was also the chance that Rampancy could be accomplished through outside interference or suggestion, and at times A.I could feel…'demeaned' by being assigned tasks that it feels is below what it was actually able to do. This was the first and actually hardest to detect stage of Rampancy.

He doubted that was in Cortana's case, but no doubt she had suffered and had no way to fight back being an A.I and that would make her sad and that could lead to anger and hatred, the second and most dangerous stage of Rampancy as this was when A.I behavior became totally unpredictable.

And the last was the Jealousy stage of Rampancy, he feared that Cortana had been through this before as she had been connected to Halo so long ago after they fled the fall of Reach, she had been in the Halo Ring's data core network for too long and would have suffered from being in such a system and then being in his own when it was not as vast as the Halo database core.

All these thoughts sent fear through him, fear that Cortana would become fully Rampant and if that happened, he would be forced to…terminate her. He would never do that since they had been together, but protocol was clear to him about Rampant …if they went too far, they had to be terminated quickly.

He however took a chance and spoke to her once more.

"Cortana…are you all right?"

"I…I'm all right, just give me a minute to try and get myself back on track."

It was then that the Monitor spoke.

"Reclaimer, I have detected the presence of another Construct in your Combat Skin, and it seems that she is showing signs of Rampancy. By all rights the Construct must be surrendered for immediate isolation but there is a viable repair station here in the city. I can attempt to have her taken there for repairs if you wish me to."

John thought it all over and saw that he didn't have much in terms of options, even with all his knowledge, saving an A.I from Rampancy was something he had only faint knowledge of. But he had saved her once and it brought her back from the edge of the abyss as it were. If this was the way to save her, then so be it, but he needed her permission to do so.

Cortana on the other hand beat her to it and replied.

"Do it John…I'll be all right."

The Spartan nodded mentally to Cortana and then spoke to the Monitor.

"Do it."

…

They had arrived in a massive cathedral like area that served as the repair station and he watched intently while keeping his hands on his Assault Rifle as the Monitor began to fire blue-violet beams into the data crystal chip that housed Cortana's Riemann Matrix, the very core of her being. It had been at least an hour or so when they came there as the facility was soon online as per order of the Monitor before him and the work started. The Spartan looked at the process on another side as the area where Cortana's data crystal chip was sealed off by solid energy barriers.

The Monitor floated towards him while the process was going on and spoke.

"I have the scanners on your Construct and I have to say that we have some good news. Despite the damage to her memory pathways and storage banks as well as her logic systems and processing functions, her core personality and programming matrix is intact and recovering well, we have began to repair as much of the damage as we can manage Reclaimer, I believe she wishes to speak to you."

Soon enough, the machines stopped with their actions and Cortana appeared before her Spartan and smiled a bit more, with a lot more warmth this time around and that made the Spartan make the Spartan smile as he spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, the repairs were good and I can feel all of the files I have in me being sorted out, I have to say I feel like I'm in an A.I version of a spa. All the tension is moving away from me and I feel a lot lighter on my feet as it were."

John turned and said something to the Monitor.

"Thank you Tentative."

The Monitor replied in a jovial tone at the praise.

"You are quite welcome Reclaimer, I am merely doing what I am programmed to do and that is to aid and assist you to the best of my abilities and I hope to do well enough to show that I am an ally. I take it that there is much that we must discuss?"

…

It took some time for the two of them to fill in the Monitor while Cortana provided records and data for it to verify and authenticate their story. Once it was over, Tentative Renewal floated a bit in what would be considered thought and then spoke out to the two of them in a calm tone.

"I see…it pains me to know that Guilty Spark turned Rampant…but it was to be expected as he was designed to safeguard the Ring…and became obsessed with it."

John replied to that.

"You do not seem angry that we were forced to destroy not one but two Halo Rings, the Ark, and one of your fellow Monitors, why is that?"

"I was built by the last of the Forerunners Reclaimer…they learned from their few successes and their myriad of mistakes and made sure that if they were to make another like me, they would allow me to have morals and the ability to see the big picture as it were. Guilty Spark ignored his own protocols to contain and destroy the Flood even with an incomplete or damaged yet still functional Halo Ring to preserve what he thought was 'his', in this case, the Halo Ring. That is why he failed to do what he should have and help fire the Ring to kill the Flood once and for all."

The Monitor looked at both John and Cortana and spoke.

"I hold no illusions or beliefs that I should preserve this world at any cost Reclaimer. When I was made, my creators told me that they learned that in order to safe guard all life, sacrifices have to be made, no matter how small or large, or how painful to ensure that life can continue to grow, evolve, and prosper. That is why if given the option as you had in that time, I would not hesitate to have this world utterly sterilized to kill the Flood if it ever took root here again and was in it's infancy. That is what my makers programmed me to do if it ever comes to that point."

Cortana then asked the question that formed in her after she heard all that.

"Why is that?"

"The Forerunners failed to meet the Flood in force, and there were many factors that led to the activation of the Halo Rings. You see, the Forerunners believed that with peace settling all over their empire and their protectorates, they no longer needed weapons as they had a peaceful galaxy, and as such, began to demilitarization of their entire empire. This coupled with the fact that they were also unused to fighting a foe that was totally biological, added to the failure of their attacks against the Flood."

"They treated the Flood as a mere Infection a disease that was contagious but not sentient, not for the great threat that it truly was to all life, and tried to contain it. By the time they realized the true horror the new threat posed to all life in the Galaxy due to it's ability to learn and adapt to a threat, it was too late. The Flood had evolved too fast and had been able to counter their tactics, as well as outnumbering the Forerunners, even with the use of the Sentinels and their technological prowess, the actions that they had undertaken prior to facing the Flood had severely weakened the Forerunner and the very size of their empire worked against them. It was difficult to fight in such a vast empire and stretching their forces thin, those they lost to the Flood were soon turned against them as these ships were now controlled by the Flood."

"They used many methods, each one more dangerous and desperate than the last method, but these only served to slow the Flood, not destroy it, showing their demilitarization efforts, and their attempts to quarantine the Flood had been fatal mistakes. Even after the Halo Array was made, many in the Forerunner Empire questioned such a harsh choice and resulted in civil war as there were those who believed in the Mantle."

"Mantle?"

The Monitor looked at John who asked that question and answered that question.

"The Mantle was a belief and philosophy in the Forerunner, that belief stated that they were the custodians and guardians of the galaxy and all life within it. My makers believed that this was handed to them by the race that predated them as well. There were some who disbelieved in the Mantle and others said that it was this same belief that doomed them since they had not allowed the other races to grow on their own. Regardless, all knew that the Halo Arrays was a terrifying weapon to use…the proverbial sword aimed at the heart of the universe. When the Gravemind corrupted the A.I Mendicant Bias to side with the Flood, they shattered the last line of defense of my Makers and forced them to fire the Halo Array."

"You see, my Makers planned to use Shield Worlds, artificial plants that would shield them and all their technology as well as the indexed and recorded life forms. After the Halo Array was fired, these Shield Worlds would be used and when the Flood was destroyed, the Forerunners would re-emerge and rebuild everything. However, then Mendicant betrayed them and they realized that their once trusted defender and weapon now served their enemy, they knew that it was the end. Mendicant knew of the Halo Array though not where it could be fired as well as the Shield Worlds themselves, that meant to my Makers that their Shield Worlds would not be safe anymore, and their race was doomed."

"But they decided to save as many as they could, even though many if not all of them were going to die when the Rings would be fired. After that, they came here and built me to watch this world and prepare it once those they have deemed worthy of their duty, you Reclaimer."

The two thought over what they learned and it was then that Tentative spoke out once more.

"By the way, I have been meaning to suggest that in order to further expand your Construct's life span as well as ensure that she remains a fully functional being to aid you, we can have a special data chip made, it will be much stronger and easier to repair and have at least three times to the memory space and processing power than her original design specifications, this will ensure that she will remain in good hands."

John didn't know why, but he found this Monitor to be a lot more trustworthy than Guilty was and decided to approve it when Cortana would say her own approval since he was not in the mood to do something she would not approve of.

"You all right with that?"

Cortana nodded at that and smiled.

"I think it's all right, besides, with all the data I have with me, a nice new house is certainly a good idea."

…

The Spartan had been given some accommodations and he was able to keep check on the progress on the development of Cortana's new data crystal chip which was going to at least take a full day and a half. Cortana then suggested that he take off the MJOLNIR and get it repaired or even upgraded as well. The Monitor agreed and suggested leaving it in the same lab where the process was being done.

He reluctantly did so and thankfully managed to salvage a set of UNSC Marine issued clothes, namely a tank top, pants, and boot from the Dawn since even though he knew that he was the only living human the planet, it was considered indecent to be moving around with no clothes on. He felt absolutely naked without his Armor however and more than once he was forced to resist the urge to go back and get it. He knew the old saying that one should not trust his or her life to equipment all the time, but having worn the MJOLNIR series all his life, he felt more comfortable with it on than off.

Still he did take the time to explore the section of the Forerunner city and looked at how the buildings were made. He ran through the designs of the buildings and saw patterns there as well in them despite their size and height. He also had to give credit to the Forerunners for having built such a city in itself. And thankfully there were supplies of food that were no doubt made for him by order of the Monitor.

He had no idea just how the Monitor made the food items, but he was willing to wager a guess that if the Forerunners had been to Earth, they would have no doubt seen just what sort of food early man had eaten to survive and had it recorded as well. Though how they were able to clone the food products was beyond even him. He had been able to eat some of the food when he rested and found them to be just the same as the food he would normally eat in the galley of any ship or station, and base he had been to in his long career, and not tasting different.

It boggled the mind of the Spartan, yet he decided not to bother with such details as he waited for the results. He didn't have to wait long as Tentative came to him and mentioned that the process was a success, they arrived in the facility and as soon as he saw Cortana smiling warmly and amazingly in a human sized avatar no less, told him that it worked. But naturally he had to be sure.

"How are you feeling?"

The A.I smiled and replied to that question.

"I've never been better, it feels like I'm actually back to when I was first brought online, and the chip is marvelous! There's so much room in there and all the processing system are worth the time and effort to give me this, at least my Avatar is still very much intact and the same as before, how about you, how are you doing?"

"Fine so far, so what is our next plan?"

"Getting back to the UNSC is going to be a good idea, the problem is we need a ship for that so both Tentative and I decided to rebuild the Dawn and make a number of serious improvements on the ship and install some better weapons and technology that might be useful for not just us but the UNSC in general."

The Monitor then moved over to the Spartan and replied.

"You're Construct speaks the truth Reclaimer. I have already began ordering the Sentinels to begin repairing and rebuilding the ship that you came in. It will take time and I have also began to work on some other projects as well with your Construct."

John sighed and decided to let the two do what they wanted as it was going to help them all in the long run anyway, so he might as well let them at it.

"All right then, I'll wait and see what happens soon enough."

…

For the next few days, John was busy trying to get used to being in the massive Forerunner Metropolis and getting used to the idea that by genetic right and recognition…this was the legacy given to Humanity by the Forerunners. It was still a lot to take in, but he could already see that the sheer power of the city itself. He was no expert on buildings unless he was either using them as a temporary shelter, sniper nest, garrison, or command center or blowing them up, but he could see just how the Forerunners were so revered by the Covenant.

The city was pretty much deserted and it was only that fact that Cortana would routinely check up on him along with the Monitor Tentative Renewal that reminded him that he was not alone. So far, the city was abuzz with some level of activity as more of the Forerunner constructs were moving back and forth to keep the city in good stable condition and also to keep it's systems operational and to make sure that it was still habitable. He looked up and saw the machines working on what was now appearing to be a warship…his warship.

Ever since they came here and talked with the amazingly cooperative and friendly Monitor, it had it's mechanical forces work none stop in rebuilding the Forward Unto Dawn but the ship was soon to be rebuilt to be much larger and stronger than what it once was. The Forerunner A.I commented that it would endeavor to create a ship worthy for the Reclaimer as it promised and make the ship very capable in combat and defense as well as able to sustain its own systems and functions when needed.

To that end, the new Forward Unto Dawn was going to be installed with a variety of technology and systems that were native to the Forerunner along with the technology of the Reclaimers who were the UNSC though the Monitor hoped that his new Masters would be able to adapt to making more powerful technology even though it did comment on the uniqueness of the technology of the UNSC. It would take a lot of time as it has been some time since the factories of the Forerunner home-world ever came back online but Tentative stated that it would take only a matter of weeks or at least two to three months before the ship would be fully operational, stocked and supplied. He moved to the building that was now serving as his…home and sat down and had to admit that the Forerunner did like their comforts when they were not focusing on galactic matters.

The room was large and spacious and had some couches and there was even a rather…interesting crystalline construction that resembled a tree of some sort though this was made from faintly glowing crystal and smooth rock. Tentative Renewal assured both him and Cortana that there was no danger in this and it was able to adjust it's lighting qualities to suit the needs of the room's occupants. John ignored it for now and headed into the room to see that the bed had been brought back to full use. He looked out the viewing port to see the rest of the city there and he couldn't help but look at the facility where Cortana and Tentative were working. He decided to go there and see just what was it they were doing at a later date.

But as soon as he was about to try and settle down somewhat, the nearby communications terminal came online and there was Cortana with what he could see was a very wide smile on her face.

"John! I need to see you at the lab!"

"What's up?"

"We've got a new surprise for you, come on!"

John had no idea what Cortana was planning but he was not going to argue with her as she truly meant well when she would call his full attention on something important. He quickly left the room and was soon on his way to the lab, still wondering what was it that got the UNSC A.I so excited all of a sudden. As soon as he got there, the Monitor arrived and spoke to him.

"Ah, greetings Reclaimer, come this way, we have finally completed an essential project that I believe you shall find most satisfactory."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're personal Construct and I have been working on improving and enhancing your Combat Skin to make it a lot more effective as well as unique in order to make sure that if you plan a return to your homeworld, you are ready for any possible dangers that you may face. You are after all in a location far beyond the known sector of your universe Reclaimer and there are many dangers. Some had been contained by my makers in the past when they were in the zenith of their power, and there are those dangers that have been left alive as a form of…mercy through the Mantle. And there are those in the very realm of Slipspace that cannot be controlled, only avoided, even by my Makers. You will need protection and while Guilty Spark was indeed rampant, he was correct in concern of your Combat Skin, we have fixed that aspect and we have made it stronger."

Before John could figure out what exactly did Tentative Renewal meant, the two of them came to a massive pod and in a nearby terminal, Cortana appeared with a smile on her face and she spoke to John.

"Good to see you, ready to see your new suit?"

John nodded and soon the pod opened and there was the MJOLNIR, it looked somewhat the same, but this time, there were some Forerunner symbols on it as well as special parts that were seen, there were some new compartment and sections on the shoulders, thighs, shins, fore-arms and there seemed to be some nacelles in the back as well. John could tell that there was a lot of power here and he couldn't help but feel a bit of awe at the sight of his Armor, it had the same olive green and black color system but the armor plating looked brand new and well made. He looked at the two and spoke out.

"What exactly did you do to this anyway?"

Cortana replied to that.

"We've decided to use some of the leftover data from my 'mother's journal.'

John looked and quickly guessed who Cortana was referring to.

"Dr. Halsey's Journal, I didn't even know she had one."

Cortana smirked and replied.

"I know, anyway, I recalled that she had actually planned to create a Mark VII version of the MJOLNIR with a number of new features, some of which we were able to determine could be installed into the MJOLNIR as well as a number of other features that Tentative was able to show which was from the Combat Skins of the Forerunner military."

"What sort of features are we talking about here?"

"One was the ability to manipulate and shape the Energy Shield systems. Dr Halsey planned to allow the MJOLNIR Mark VII to use the Shield System for more than just overall protection, the Shields could be used to form solid gauntlets, walls, as well as other shapes, we've even tested that you can direct enough energy to form a make shift parachute. This would work well with the second feature which is atmospheric insertion systems, that feature will allow you to drop into the atmosphere without using a SOEIV, that way the next time you decide to jump, you won't get yourself killed or turned into one heck of a mess on the surface of a planet."

"She also planned to have the MJOLNIR Mark VII have a hybrid power plant system with both fusion and plasma technology, this would increase the overall power capacity of the MJOLNIR Mark VII to be at least five to seven times the normal power output of the other MJOLNIR Models. We also decided to create a special feature of a special propulsion system that will allow you to fly for short periods by using the hybrid power plant to fuel some jump systems that use anti-gravity field generators to move you around the battle field if needed to go from one place to the next. We've also increased the amount of memory crystal weave to make me have more room and processing power as well without compromising the suit's overall build and weight."

John raised an eyebrow at that, he had no idea that Dr. Halsey had such lofty plans for the MJOLNIR, it was a shame that it never saw development after the fall of Reach, but he was happy that Cortana still managed to retain most of the information as these improvements were going to be very useful in the long run. He was then curious as to what they had done with the data concerning the Forerunner Combat Skins. It was then that Tentative spoke as well.

"I have managed to get a number of Combat Skins which were on lock down from one of the bases that was sealed away when my creators began to their demilitarization efforts before the battles with the Flood and many of the Combat Skins are still operational and able to perform well. We have used the data and parts from these Combat Skins to improve your own Combat Skin till it meets the standard for all Combat Skins used by the Forerunners Reclaimer."

"One of the new features gained from the Combat Skins, is an enhanced version of the Force Multiplication Circuits, they are primitive by Forerunner standards, yet very useful in battle. These enhanced circuits can increase your speed and strength as well as your reaction time to be at least a few milliseconds faster than before."

"Another is a specially made temperature regulation system that is the same as the hydrostatic gel layer found in your previous Combat Skin, but this new composite gel also inhibits bio-electrical signatures as well as thermal ones. It is also is armed with a special teleportation system that can allow you to be teleported from a ship to the surface with the proper coordinate data typed in to the Teleportation Grid Command and Control system we plan to install into the Ship."

"It also has specialized scanners to detect parasitic biological threats, a special feature if you encounter the Flood in areas where lighting is limited or some manner of interference is blocking your systems from detecting them or any other threat that is detrimental to organic life. We have also installed a much more effective motion tracking system to ensure that you will have an extended scanner range to locate hostile threats before you see them to track their own movements, as well as the extended range vision mode to increase your sight by at least two to three miles by Human estimation We've also improved the Automatic Biofoam Injectors and it now uses what we've called Bio-Salve, it's marginally less painful than standard Bio-foam and does much better than the older version and is able to last much longer with a combination of my Maker's medical expertise and your Construct's own data concerning your biology as well as your augmentations. "

"We have also replaced your Shield system to have that of a Class 28 Combat Skin the highest rank of Combat Skin in the arsenal during the war. This was the finest Combat Skin in existence…sadly it was not able to be fielded in time and was not in the hands of those of my creators that needed them the most. It is armed with a small Slipspace container to store supplies and weapons…a…rucksack if you will call it as such, but uses Slipspace to store the things needed in battle. We also have replaced the alloy that makes the majority of your Combat Skin with the material that makes this Class 28 Combat Skin. As such, the alloy that now makes up your Combat Skin is the strongest of all the Combat Skin armor we have on record it can shrug off even the most concentrated barrage of plasma and more and still remain strong enough to withstand gravity for a time. The Combat Skin we used for this purpose has special significance to not just my Makers…but to me as well Reclaimer."

John looked at the Monitor and asked.

"Why?"

"That Combat Skin belonged to the leader of my maker's forces, his name was Antarius Didact, it was he commanded the Forerunner in the final last stand with the Flood and the rampant Mendicant Bias. And it was he who activated Halo. He had tried to convince his beloved Librarian to leave your world Reclaimer, to be safe…but she refused, saving your people and calling you all special in her eyes, worthy of saving. He lost her as she destroyed her own Fleet to ensure the Flood would not find the Ark where your ancestors were now safely placed away. After he fired the Halo Array, he looked upon you all…and remembered what he and many had lost…both their failure…and their victory."

"He gave your people the Mantle…the guardianship of the galaxy, believing that your people Reclaimer can defend the galaxy in ways that they could not. Though he believed in the Mantle with his whole heart, Didact knew that it was their own hubris that doomed his people. They had thought themselves no longer needing to grow stronger for all was at peace. The Flood proved them wrong and he felt that their actions or inaction had allowed the Flood to win the war and claim billions of sentient life and in doing so; they had failed to be the guardians they saw themselves to be. He left his Combat Skin behind, sealing it away in the vault, hoping that if ever the time came for it to be used once again…it would be in the hands of one who is willing to do whatever was needed to safeguard life itself and ensure that the sacrifice of his people, their culture, their civilization…and his beloved was not in vain. Those were his last words to me before he and the others left this galaxy and leaving me my duty to safeguard the cradle of their own kindred."

Tentative then spoke in a reverent tone to the Master Chief.

"And after all I have learned and seen…I believe in the very core of my programming that you Reclaimer deserve to use this Combat Skin and it will find better use in your hands than others. You are the only Reclaimer worthy to carry the knowledge of my Makers and give it to your own people to ensure that if ever the Flood or another threat rises to harm all life. There is one to unite all beings against it. And I believe that Didact would agree as well in my assessment of you."

John had no way to express his surprise at what the Monitor had said to him concerning this Combat Skin and the fact that he was the one it deemed worthy to use it once more. He decided that if that was the case, he might as well get into the MJOLNIR and test out just what the results of it's upgrades were.

As soon as he wore it and it came online with him placing his MJOLNIR helmet back on his head, he began to access the MJOLNIR's subroutines and the BIOS and found it to be still in the same language of English that he was very familiar with and it was then that he took Cortana's new chip and loaded her in, he felt the same ice water feeling in his mind and spine but that didn't last long as Cortana spoke.

"Mmmm…a lot of room, all I need now is some data for furniture and the like, I can get really cozy in here."

"I hope you don't plan on building a house in my mind Cortana, I like my thoughts just the way they are."

The A.I laughed a bit and replied.

"Just kidding big guy, I happen to like your mind the way it is myself…anyway, we've got a lot of time so I think we should give this new suit of yours the classic workout, at least this time it's within the guidelines and that nut job Ackerson isn't around to try and put both you and I out of action. Afterwards we can get down to building a far better arsenal to use, it's going to be a long trip so we might as well get comfortable and load up some new ordnance to play with, I know how you are with ammunition and guns after all."

…

It was a number of weeks on the surface of the Forerunner homeworld and the Spartan was making good progress. John normally didn't show too much affection to equipment, but to say that he was impressed and pleased with the new MJOLNIR that Cortana had dubbed the Mark X was an understatement. It was almost like the time he and he fellow Spartans, including Samuel had seen the Mark IV MJOLNIRs for the first time, and he knew now why Sam said that he thought he was in love with the Mark IV.

The Mark X proved to be able to do all the things Dr. Halsey dreamed the Mark VII could do, they had tested it in both simulated and live fire conditions and both shields and armor plating performed well. The other systems that boosted his own abilities were also doing quite well, he could run even faster than before, his reaction time was incredible even by Spartan standards, and strength levels were enough to make him take on two Hunter pairs at once, something that was considered suicidal in every sense of the word.

He had tested the new Shield manipulation systems well and if there were obstacles and distances he couldn't handle, the Shield Manipulation abilities were more than able to make up for them. Added to that was the fact that with the Shields being much tougher and stronger than before made the Shield Manipulation systems even more effective and flexible in his mind and those were serious advantages in battle.

He also was busy getting used to the other feature of Teleportation, he had not forgotten the time Cortana used the Teleportation Grid in their mission to find Captain Jacob Keyes and get the codes to activate the self destruct of the Pillar of Autumn's reactors. He and Cortana were able to test short range teleportation on the surface of the planet and then in a small shuttle that Tentative provided them. This was a very interesting feature and minimized his need to use HEVs to land on a surface as well as a Pelican or Albatross.

Cortana was able to get enough experience with the technology to finally make very accurate Teleportation 'jumps' possible and John was a lot more capable in getting used to them as well and knew that once they installed a Teleportation Grid Control system in the Dawn, they would have a deadly advantage in combat.

He also was there to field test a number of the new weapons and technology alongside Cortana and Tentative, mostly weapons tech, but he had to admit that all this would be useful, even more so for the UNSC once they got back. However the Spartan was going to worry about those details for a better time and once they got back to UNSC held territory.

…

It was not long before the Spartan and the UNSC A.I were informed that the new Forward Unto Dawn was complete and had undergone a number of advanced systems checks and diagnostics runs by the Monitor and was ready for them to take out and head back into Earth, Tentative however told the Master Chief and Cortana that even though they now had a ship as well as perfect Slipspace technology as well which was something of a genetic 'birthright' for the Reclaimers, they needed to travel carefully.

In order to ensure that the Flood would never harm other sentient races should they return, the Forerunners had purged the locations of all known planets from their databases, along with other Forerunner colonies and facilities as well as planets capable of supporting life as well as having sufficient conditions for the Flood to grow and evolve. Even he was not given access to such knowledge and therefore he could not provide the two with accurate data on their exact location.

This added to the fact that they were still following the Cole Protocol and as such, they needed to make sure that Earth and any other un-glassed Colony was not going to be in danger. The only way they could go to Earth without attracting attention that would be hostile was to go to a possible location that would allow them to send a communication signal and contact the UNSC and establish a viable meeting spot.

It was risky and it was not sure if there was still an operational UNSC Navy Fleet after the end of the war with the Covenant , but it was their best bet by far. With that in mind, the two bid farewell to Tentative who assured them that it would remain here to defend the heart of his Marker's world until better times as it were came to the galaxy.

…

As soon as they were onboard after being taken there via Transport ship, the Spartan loaded Cortana into the ship's database core and she spoke to him after appearing in a nearby holo-tank.

"I'll get to work in getting myself organized into the Dawn's new systems, thismight take a while John so get used to our new ride."

John shook his head and replied.

"Take your time."

The A.I smiled and did just that, leaving John to examine the ship in more detail as most of the time he had only watched the ship being built while on the testing runs with both Cortana and Tentative but he did know about the myriad changes done to the UNSC Frigate while he continued to check every inch of the ship.

The new Forward Unto Dawn was by far the most impressive warship that the Spartan had ever seen, granted it had the same form of a UNSC Frigate, but it was now anything but a Frigate of the UNSC Navy. It was longer and larger to the point it resembled a UNSC Destroyer and had the two working MAC Guns but Cortana had used her data both on the Pillar of Autumn's modified MAC Guns which were armed with both magnetic field recyclers and booster capacitors, and on Covenant Plasma weaponry to actually modify the MAC Guns to fire contained amounts of plasma in the same way a Plasma Rifle or Pistol would do.

These features gave the ship a deadly set of abilities, the first was being able to fire three MAC Rounds in one charge than the regular MAC systems that fired one round per charge only, allowing it to fire six MAC rounds in rapid succession if needed. And the second ability was the ability to fire high speed plasma bolts that while unguided moved much faster than Plasma Torpedoes and could easily skewer a ship if it hit the target in question.

There was also a pair of low grade yet deadly Energy Projectors that could be fired separately but could be able to focus their beams into one massive beam to destroy or severely damage a single target if the other main weapons proved to be insufficient in battle, though John naturally had doubts on that regard.

They also had a compliment of Plasma Torpedoes as well as Forerunner Missile systems, the weapons surprised Cortana and John as this was the first time they had ever heard of the Forerunners using Missiles since they dominantly used Light based weapons in their forces. These missiles packed a serious level of power and amazingly could not be exhausted at all, making this weapon system undeniably dangerous in a fight.

And for close combat, the ship was armed with several Laser Turrets, some Gauss Point Defense Guns, and four Sentinel Beam Turrets designed for fighting in such combat conditions. These weapons made attacking the new Forward Unto Dawn a seriously bad idea and this made John wonder just what other dangers were out there in the Galaxy that would require the Frigate to be outfitted like this. He was not going to complain however, this would be a good way to even up the odds since he had his doubts that the Covenant Loyalists were far from defeated, and this technology could prove helpful in giving the UNSC and their allies an edge against them and if the Prophets were still around to cause headaches.

…

The ship was constructed using Forerunner ship armor plating and John had seen and learned enough to know that this would make the ship nearly indestructible to regular assault, and only something like a Slipspace anomaly, a super nova, or a Forerunner warship would have the power needed to harm the new Forward Unto Dawn despite the fact that it didn't have the same armor thickness of a Dreadnaught.

Couple that with the specially installed Forerunner Energy Shield Generator that gave it the same level of shielding as a Covenant Carrier, this ship would take a serious beating and would be considered more of a super warship than a Frigate.

The Dawn was now powered by a combination of the Deuterium Nuclear Fusion Core Reactor banks with a Pair of Forerunner Energy Core Reactors. This gave the new Dawn more than enough power to equal the Forerunner Key-ship when it only used a quarter of it's power output to power the former Covenant Capital City of High Charity and made it a fast warship for most battles, rivaled only by the UNSC Gettysburg.

The ship's interior was also reinforced with a combination of the usual UNSC material of Titanium A and Vanadium Steel but also with the same Forerunner Combat Alloy and was a lot more spacious than before. John had a concern for that but decided to place it away for the time being as this was not too bad, all things considered. The crew size of the ship was now at least twice the usual, normally a Frigate's crew size was limited to at least a hundred and fifty people, but now this one ship could fit at least a full three hundred. It boggled the mind that this ship was technically the smallest of the UNSC Navy ship classifications, but now had firepower and technology that rivaled anything the UNSC and even the Covenant could cook up.

There was a section of the ship that had a small compliment of the Huragok as well as a number of Sentinel Constructors that had their own Sentinel Launcher. Both would work together in maintaining the Ship and whatever equipment was present in the vessel. The Huragok had been told to recognize John as a Reclaimer and also recognize Cortana as a Forerunner A.I under the command of John so they would listen to them while the Constructors were used for ship repair and maintenance out in the field of space. These units would help maintain the ship in the absence of a working crew and this was a good thing for John as the idea of repairing a Ship like this was certainly not in his area of expertise.

He met one of the Huragok as it looked at him and made several noises in greeting and moved away. Tentative had programmed them to recognize John and Cortana as Reclaimers and as such, were their masters which was why the Huragok were there as well.

The ship also had it's armories re-stocked with weapons, but in this case, there were several types of weapons this time around instead of the UNSC arsenals that he was used to. The first type was the ones he was most familiar with as those were naturally the UNSC arsenal that still fired conventional ballistic rounds as well as the Spartan Lasers. It was easy for Tentative to have these made along with a large stockpile of the ammunition due to the resources on the Forerunner Home-world though the A.I did wonder why the Reclaimers used such insufficient weapons on occasion, however, the gun powder did receive an increase in power due to Cortana using the notes of the Forerunners on chemistry in improving the strength of the gun powder mixtures.

…

These were then supplemented with weapons that replicated the appearance of the UNSC line of weaponry but were mostly Directed Energy Weapons, using Lasers, Plasma, and Light based Beam weaponry as well as Gauss Weapons due to Cortana using the data concerning the old M99 Gauss Rifle used in the past by the UNSC as well as the M68 Gauss Cannon. These were made in order to balance out the arsenal under the request of Cortana in order to give them more options when dealing with any threats that they might encounter along the way. She also named them after the UNSC Infantry Weapons Designations but with changes to point out that these weapons were not regular weapons.

The MA6A Assault Rifle series was designed to work using Gauss rounds and naturally had specially made magnetic coils in the barrel to fire projectiles at the same speed as a regular MA5C, but with no gun powder and shell casings, the pressing of the trigger actually pushed the bullet into the barrel and the coils did the rest, eliminating the use of gun powder and shells and the bullets were no longer FMJ rounds but solid Titanium with a Tungsten Carbide core tip. This naturally required a small power plant and Tentative was more able to make one that was portable and lightweight, an easy thing for the Forerunners to make in any case. This weapon had the advantage of no recoil as well as doubt the range of the standard MA5C but did have the weakness of having the power plant recharge in order to fire the weapon rapidly. The rifle was a but bulkier to accommodate the changes but was still able to be carried. It now housed a full magazine of at least 64 rounds, twice that of the MA5C due to no longer relying on gun powder and shell casings.

The BR56HB SR Battle Rifle was in the same category is now used Gauss technology to fire it's own projectiles and was still functioning as it always had, as a general purpose battle rifle and as a make shift Sniper rifle. But with the added advantage of no recoil, it's shots were a lot more accurate as well as having higher damage against even armored targets, and due to no longer needing to use gun powder and shell casings, the magazine of the BR56 'Battle Rifle' was increased to house 74 rounds of the same titanium-tungsten carbide tipped rounds. Naturally the weapon now had a power plant to power the magnetic coil system and as such as a bit bulkier and had a slightly larger barrel housing.

The M8 SMG series and the suppressed variant was also the same but had a smaller coil system and as such, didn't have the same range as the other two weapons while increasing the old range abilities to being medium range due having better accuracy from the lack of recoil with it no longer using chemical propellant. And this version was a lot more effective in countering shields due to the higher speed of the bullets flying out and the increased range. The ammunition capacity was also increased from 60 to a full 120 rounds due to the bullets no longer relying on chemical propellant.

The suppressed M8S SMG variant was armed with a special sound suppression system that broke down most of the sonic energy generated by the Gauss technology and as such was actually effective in cutting down the small explosion like noise made by the weapon. It also had an increased level of range, reaching that of a Battle Rifle and also having better accuracy as well as damage and having an ammunition capacity of double the original M7S at 96 rounds.

Both weapons were naturally armed with a small power plant to power the coil system and as such were a bit bulkier and having a slightly bigger barrel for the magnetic coil system.

The M7A PDWS Magnum also used the Gauss technology but used a much smaller coil system than the other weapons and as such was not as powered as they were. However, compared to the original M6G Magnum, this was a lot more powerful due to the Gauss technology used into it, having better range, no recoil, and power than the previous model. It used a special variant of it's original bullet type which includes a special explosive material inside the bullet which was made from tungsten that is specially made to fracture on impact, retaining the effectiveness of the original model. Like the other Gauss weapons, the lack of shell casings and gun powder, the ammunition capacity for the M7A was increased by 16 rounds and is had a small power plant in front of the trigger to power the magnetic coil system.

The suppressed M7B SOCOM had the same features as the M7A but with a different ammunition type which was also specially made outside tungsten jacket covering that would aid in penetration and then unleash the more solid inner tungsten slug which is yet designed to fragment to cause more internal damage as well as wounding damage. The sound suppressor is also able to tone down the sounds of the bullets being fired and also recoil is nonexistent in this weapon. It too has a small power plant for the coil system located at the trigger under the housing for the laser pointer system and the same coil system to make the barrel a bit meatier.

The M100 CAWS Shotgun was also armed with the coil system which increased it's overall range and damage power to the original M90, allowing it to go to medium range though it still had the spread effect of a shotgun. But this weapon used two special types of ammunition and both was a shotgun shell that was made in the same fashion as a sabot and allowed the coil system to affect the now tungsten carbide rounds which were in the normal pellet form and the flechette variant. Once the trigger is pulled, it immediately discards the shell while unleashing either of the two rounds and unleashing twice the amounts of pellets due to the now present lack of gun powder. However it still retained the same ammunition load as before. It had the power plant and the coil system as well so it was a bit bulkier than the M90A.

The new SRS100A –S3 AM Sniper Rifle was made with a combination of the original SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle and the Gauss Rifle's features. The lack of gun powder and shell casings had allowed the weapon to fire 8 rounds which were all made from highly dense tungsten carbide bullets and as such, this allowed the user to carry 48 rounds or 12 magazines. The fact that the dawn did not have a working M99 Gauss Rifle was the reason that they redesigned the original Sniper Rifle instead of making more M99 Gauss Rifles. It too had a power plant and a slightly thicker barrel due to the coil system.

To counter Armor, the new M42 SSM Rocket Launcher was made, the newly made 110mm HEAT Rockets were no longer armed with rocket engines and fuel to be propelled. Instead it was following the design of the M68 Gauss Cannon and the warhead was now replaced with a Tungsten carbide casing for extra penetrating power and increased explosive payload mix for greater explosive power, thus making the rockets a lot beefier and stronger than the original rockets. This made the tubes that housed the new rockets lighter and were surrounded by an inactive magnetic coil network which would soon power up once loaded into the M42. Naturally it lacked the ability to track targets, but that was more than made up for with the increased speed and power, along with in increased blast radius so it was now deadly on infantry groups.

And the last was a heavy Machine Gun which was made to be a light portable weapon for the Master Chief to carry. The new M248H SAW GPMG was made to be lighter and was armed with the same magnetic coil system and power plant to make it able to use Gauss technology. It had a nearly limitless amount of rounds to unleash and the fact that it was able to fire at extreme rates, it was able to literally shred infantry to bits.

All Gauss weapons were armed with a special cooling system that mimicked the Hydrostatic Gel system that the MJOLNIR to keep them from overheating and also make them highly resilient to impact damage as well as also protecting the inner workings of the weapon systems. The Hydrostatic Gel is also perfected by Tentative so overheating risks are drastically reduced, something that John certainly enjoyed.

The Laser series of weapons were based on the Spartan Laser's design and functions, making these the only functional Laser based weapons that used UNSC specs. Though only the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Pistol, and SMG lines could be made since there was no way a Shotgun variant could be made due to the complex nature of actually unleashing multiple lasers at once, which could cause structural damage to the weapon as well as considerable overheating issues.

The Plasma weapons were still the same Covenant weaponry though they were modified as Tentative pointed out that the Covenant had only unlocked a portion of the power of the Forerunner's military technology and as such only reached the level of Plasma, not the vast arsenal that the Forerunners were known to use daily in battle before their demilitarization efforts. As such, the weapons of the Covenant were actually considered weaker by the Monitor.

The supplies they had of food, medical supplies, tools, equipment and the like were there and ready for use and that was something that he was grateful for in every sense of the word and no doubt Cortana was as well.

…

There were also some UNSC Vehicles there, reconstructed as he requested from Tentative and were to be under the watch of both the Huragok and the Constructors. These were a number of Warthogs, both the regular Machine Gun and Gauss Warthogs as well as the Troop Transport variant, there were also two new ones, one that used a new Laser for engaging heavy Armor and another armed with a Plasma Cannon of all things. There were also six regular Scorpion Tanks and one newly produced model that actually was armed with a larger Gauss cannon for more serious battles.

And last were a group of six Pelicans, a Pair of Hornets with Gauss Machine Guns, Missiles and a chin mounted Spartan Laser and two Albatross ships.

…

All in all this ship was one of the best he had seen, and as he got to the bridge, he was soon greeted by Cortana who smiled at him and John commented at that.

"You're awfully cheerful all of a sudden."

"Hey, I'll admit I prefer the Autumn, but the Dawn isn't all bad at any rate. All right, we've got the ship fully powered and I've downloaded all the data I have on the galactic map and we do have a chance to go to any possible UNSC owned and held colonies though it's better we get to any still present shipping lanes and do what we can to contact the UNSC. But before we go and do what we plan to do, I think it's best we field test the Slipspace Drive Tentative gave the ship."

"Really?"

"Yeah, there's a planet a fair distance here, almost the same distance Mars is to Earth, if we can jump there safely and on record time, we're in business."

"You want to see if the Slipspace systems are fully operational and reliable since it's been some time since one of those was build back there on the Forerunner homeworld I take it?"

"Right, better to work out any kinks than get hit by them at the wrong time I say."

John nodded at the prudence of that and gave his consent.

"Go ahead Cortana."

The A.I grinned at that and began to power up the ship's engines as well as the Slipspace Drive, Cortana filled in the coordinates and as soon as everything was locked in, the Forward Unto Dawn was soon ready for it's first Slipspace Jump, the spherical portal was similar to the Covenant's own Slipspace portal when they used their own Slipspace Drives and soon the Dawn entered the portal but not before leaving a NAV marker to act as a point of reference for their original location. The trip must have been only a minute or two until they appeared to near the planet that was going to serve as their destination as the portal closed down behind the ship.

John commented to that.

"Now that was quick, how much time passed in real space Cortana?"

"Hold up…getting the data now, wow…only a nano-second passed us by."

Cortana grinned and smiled at the results as she began to take in what she learned and could see just why Tentative said that the Covenant's grasp of Forerunner technology was actually rather primitive and limited as well. As soon as she was done, she commented that they were ready. John nodded as they began to guide the ship to a good location for a safe Slipspace jump and as soon as they were ready they made another portal and entered Slipspace.

However, it was not long in the trip before Cortana detected something coming their way and it was a very powerful wave of energy that was soon going to hit the Dawn and they had no way to dodge it. John decided to that they were going to have to ride it out and they did just that and hoped for the best in the unexpected danger they had just run into in Slipspace.

The ship buckled a bit and that buckling grew in intensity but the Forerunner construction was more than enough to withstand it, however John was not going to risk the ship anymore and neither was Cortana as they soon began to move out of Slipspace and into normal space with both of them hoping that they were going to get out alive and with this new ship of theirs to be relatively intact. However unknown to them, the event that they had encountered in Slipspace had just sent them through a very different direction.

And in a totally different universe entirely as there was a lot more to Slipspace that only the Forerunners knew but decided to delete in order to keep the Flood from ever learning it.

…

In the void of space, it seemed silent and peaceful, that is until a large sphere appeared out of nowhere and seemed to crackle with energy of some sort and soon the a massive ship came out from the portal. The Forward Unto Dawn appeared intact and whole and in the Bridge, both John and Cortana were very much alive and safe.

John mentally recovered and knew that he was fine as his vital signs were all green and he spoke to Cortana.

"You all right?"

The A.I appeared and spoke to him in her usual tone though she was a bit flustered and worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, something must have created an anomaly in Slipspace when we entered, it was like that time with the Forerunner Crystal we recovered when we got back to Reach."

John nodded as he recalled the events of Operation First Strike and what happened when the crystal in question threw them and their Covenant pursuers into a dimension in Slipspace that really threw every law of physics out the proverbial window. He then spoke to Cortana so they could get an idea on where they were in the galaxy.

"Do you have any idea where we might be in the galaxy this time around, Cortana?"

"Give me a moment to do some checks on the map as well as the coordinates."

Cortana was busy accessing the said information, but then she stopped and changed the direction of her actions as she spoke to the Spartan.

"Hold up John…I'm picking up something…"

John waited on the chair where the Captain would normally sit as Cortana tried to track down and decode the signal; he was ready to see just what this signal was.

"Okay…here we go, it's fairly clear and garbled up but I've cleared most of it, whoever sent this was sending this in a hurry."

The nearby communication's screen came online and to the surprise of the Master Chief there was a human face there, a female of African descent and wearing some sort of armor with high officer markings yet none like anything that the Spartan knew of. The woman then spoke.

"This is Commander Caitlin Monroe of the Systems Alliance patrol frigate Kenya, we've been attacked by several pirate bands and our ship has been shot down. We've crash landed on a nearby planet in this system after trying to evade the bastards before we crashed…we've lost a good number of the crew but we're alive…we're running low on food and…but we've…pirate base located here on the surface…no idea how they…here but I think…bastards lured us here…we're not…here…they have…others as well…"

"I managed to escape and sent…this message…out there….we need…help…"

The message cut off and that was when Cortana spoke to the Spartan.

"I've managed to locate the origin of that transmission, we're not far from the location and it seems that we can avoid being detected for the time being. But still…this is weird, what could humans be doing this far out in the galaxy, and what is the Systems Alliance?"

Cortana shook her head and replied.

"What do you think we should do John?"

John thought it over and knew that there were more questions than answers, he knew that with this being in an utterly unknown region of space, there was no way that the UNSC could have ships this far out, and with the devastating battles over Earth, even if at full capacity, there was little chance the UNSC Navy could have a force of ships this far out in the galaxy. And what was this Systems Alliance? He had never heard of this group before, had the UNSC renamed itself for some reason, or was this some lost colony faction that rose to power?

It was possible that a human colony might have escaped the attacks of the Covenant in the War but he had his doubts as there was no way the Covenant in the past would leave a planet full of people alive. This was confusing as hell but the directive still stood, he was a defender of humanity and as such, turning down a distress call from people in need was not something the Spartan would do for any reason.

"Let's go and check it out, let's try to stay out of the range of possible sensor nets."

"Right, hang on."

It took a while but the ship was soon over what appeared to be some sort of habitable planet that had a number of land masses and water areas, and while Cortana scanned the surface to get more details of the place as well as determine the location of the base where the transmission came from, the Spartan was arming himself for the mission that he was about to undertake.

He decided to not use his old weapon of choice for now and took out an MA7A Directed Energy Weapon ICWS Assault Rifle and a number of fusion cell charges that were enough for the mission and forego carrying any pistols for now. As soon as he did so, he was contacted by Cortana who was to remain in the bridge to coordinate the mission.

"I've gotten the data, the planet's biosphere seems to be able to support life in the human sense so no danger to humans in terms of environmental elements. The base is there as well and I am picking up bio-signatures on the outside of the base, might be sentries from the looks of things so I suggest a quick attack to take them out to make sure that we don't accidentally spook the entire base itself."

"Let me guess…Teleport right behind them?"

"Right…you ready?"

"Ready."

…

On the surface of the planet…

The planet was similar to an open grassland area with a number of tree pockets there as well, showing that it was a good place to live in, but due to the fact that it was in an area that was sometimes frequented by pirates and slavery rings, it was off limits to other official residents. This made it an ideal place to set up a base.

A number of the pirates and slavers who were serving as the sentries were busy enjoying some time off and were discussing their latest catches. They were so absorbed that the very second they were greeted by the sight of a glowing mass of energy, they were stunned by what they were seeing. That was a serious mistake as they were suddenly shot down by bright bolts of pure energy that tore through them like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Four of the aliens were now sporting burning holes in their chests as the energy faded and before the utterly stunned aliens was the seven foot tall Spartan II Commando wearing the newly created MJOLNIR Mark X.

The Master Chief wasted no time in killing several more of the alien soldiers before they could fire back, quickly targeting them and firing before they even had a chance to fight back against him in battle. he shot down three more before one of the aliens got the chance to reach for what appeared to be a pistol. But before the alien could even fire, the Spartan closed the gap, smashed the alien in the chest with the butt of his Laser Assault Rifle and then fired one burst into the face, reducing the alien's head into a fine mist.

As soon as the Spartan was done killing that last guard, he was quickly on alert and watched to see if there was going to come out a number of reinforcements from the base, yet none came out. So far it seemed that the rest of the base personnel were unaware that they were under attack. This gave the Spartan time to study the slain enemies before him.

John looked at the now slain aliens and he was quick to notice that they didn't look anything like the Covenant and the Flood he had ever fought with before. All of the aliens he had dispatched looked human like, but had no hair on their faces, no humanoid features, and had four eyes one set on top of the other. T

his made the Spartan wary as he moved into the base and moved through the corridors of the base and carried his MA7A Directed Energy ICWS Assault Rifle along with a pair of the handguns that two of the now aliens carried, he planned to salvage as many of these weapons as he could, wherever he landed in, it was better to know all he could about his foes and be ready for them, and this naturally included their technology.

He moved about, managing to silently kill the four eyed aliens that he encountered in the base with CQC tactics and close combat weapons fire, moving in close to muffle the sounds of the shots going off by using the bodies of his foes like organic silencers though it hardly removed the stench of melted ceramics and flesh. He noted that the aliens had some sort of shielding system on them but seemed to be totally useless against energy weapons. The Spartan managed to flush out and kill a number of the aliens and made sure to do it quietly and silently as he could manage since he was trying to locate just who sent the distress call he and Cortana had picked up.

He then located a room that seemed to be some sort of housing complex and managed to bypass the doors. He turned and looked in and he was able to find that there were actually humans in this place.

The human he found was a woman who wore some sort of combat armor, similar to the same kind worn by the Aliens he had just terminated though having military markings, she looked to be at least at average human height, at around five eleven from the looks of it and had Caucasian features, green eyes and had her blonde hair in braids from the looks of it. She looked up and he saw that she had some scars and bruising, tell tale signs of interrogation and torture, things he was already familiar with in his career.

The woman looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the seven foot tall armored…thing before her, carrying an odd looking rifle of some sort, she wondered just what happened and decided to speak to figure out just what was before her.

"Who the heck are you?"

The Spartan then replied to that in a crisp manner.

"You're possible rescuer, who are you?"

The woman was hesitant at first and then replied with some level of distrust, something the Spartan was curious about.

"Lieutenant Alice Reynard of the Systems Alliance Marines, you some sort of mercenary or something, sent by high-command to rescue us? I prefer being rescued by fellow Marines, but this is no time to be picky, those Batarian bastards don't care much for humans."

"Batarians?"

Alice raised an eyebrow and replied.

"You're kidding right? They're the four eyed bastards who own this base, considering how you got here, you must have encountered them somewhere."

John quickly guessed she must be referring to the aliens he had killed earlier when he came to this base to trace the distress call. He then replied to that.

"I did, they're all dead, at least the ones in the rooms I've been clearing."

Alice's eyes widened at that as she looked at the being before her and wondered if he since it spoke in a male voice was pulling her leg, this was certainly no Krogan, and no way was this a Turian or a Salarian, and definitely not an Asari. She was confused as to who this being was, she had heard of humans being tall like this being was, but this was certainly not the kind of armor that she knew was at the Alliance standard and she also knew that this armor was not normally worn by the Council races at all.

"You killed them all?"

"Pretty much though I have no doubt there are a few still alive here in the base, I salvaged the weapons of the ones I killed as well, are there others here in the base with you?"

Alice recalled that the rest of her unit were still there and were being held in other rooms by the Batarians and she nodded as she spoke about her fellow Marines.

"Yeah, there are a number of my fellow Marines here, along with a band of Asari who we were supposed to be escorting, they only have two Commandos with them. The Batarians managed to kill one of them and badly wounded the other before capturing us and taking our commander to interrogate her…or worse."

"All right, hold on…"

"Wait! Not that I'm being ungrateful or anything, but who the heck are you?"

John thought it over and decided not to be cryptic and give her a straight answer to the question she had given to him, but not an entirely direct answer either as he needed to keep some things about himself out of the lime-light.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, and before you ask, that is all I am going to say for now."

Alice decided to let that slide for the time being as the door to her cell went down and the Spartan guided her to the same cache of weapons he had taken from the Batarians. The Marine smiled as she now felt the weapons in her hands and readied a Terminator Assault Rifle for battle as her own weapons had been damaged in the battle before.

The two moved on and Alice could see that this behemoth of a being was well trained, so much so that she wondered if he was Special Forces as he moved through the base. She watched in awe as he quickly terminated the remaining Batarian Guards not by shooting them but by moving at them so fast and using undeniably lethal CQC tactics that the Four Eyed bastards didn't even know what hit them. All they did was drop dead and she winced every time she heard the undeniable sound of bones being crushed when the Spartan attacked them.

He quickly freed a number of her fellow Alliance Marines and soon found the wounded Asari and her fellows who were there in a much larger cell with the Commando being restrained by some sort of collar that John felt was no doubt a restraining device, though why the Batarians didn't restrain her arms and legs as she was a member of the military of her race judging by the name of Commando.

The Spartan was surprised as well by the fact that despite the blue like skin of various hues as well as violet and the flesh like tendrils that were in place of hair as well as odd markings on her face that would scream alien to him, the beings before him were almost human in form and facial characteristics. This further reinforced to him that there was something utterly wrong here. Either there were more races that the Covenant had discovered and not had the time to rally to the battle with the UNSC, or this was a species that was completely off the charts

The Commando looked in surprise at the Spartan and spoke to her rescuer.

"By the Goddess…who or what are you?"

The Spartan replied to that, relieved that this alien female was able to speak the human language, but that still left him with another question and that was how did she learn the language as well. As far as he knew the UNSC had never encountered aliens that looked female and rather…aesthetically pleasing to say the least. He was going to have to guess that these must be the Asari that Alice mentioned to him.

"I could ask you the same question, are you an Asari?"

The woman actually frowned at him as she got up to face him and replied.

"That I am, and if you are here to harm me or my fellow Asari, I will make you regret it even if I cannot use my Biotics or have weapons."

John quirked an eyebrow at that and spoke with some level of confusion in his voice.

"What do you mean by Biotics? And what makes you think I came here to harm you?"

The Asari Commando was confused as to why this being seemed unaware of Biotics but decided not to bother with that and focus on the other question, she had years to learn behavior from many species and this one was apparently not kidding about what he was saying. She then decided to take the risk and ask once more just what was it's intentions towards her and her fellow Asari.

"If you're not here to harm us, then why are you here?"

"Rescue, I've already freed the other prisoners."

And sure enough the Spartan moved aside and the Asari Commando saw that the other Alliance soldiers were now already free and ready to fight back against their former captors. She looked at the massive being and nodded a bit as she spoke once more.

"Very well then, free me of this Biotic Inhibitor and I'll help you and the Alliance Marines, I still owe these Batarians for Nasshia's death."

John mulled it over and without a moment hesitation after making his decision that he could use all the help he could get, even if it was from an unknown alien, ripped off the collar and the Asari smiled as she felt her body recover to the point she could use her Biotics. She then was about to ask for a weapon, but the Spartan beat her to it as he removed a Terminator Assault Rifle he had pilfered some the corpse of one of the Batarians.

He turned his attention to the other Asari and spoke.

"What about the other Asari you're with?"

That was handled by Alice who spoke up.

"I'll assign three of my Marines to hold the fort and keep them safe, we have to get to the Commander, there's no telling what they will do to her if we stay here."

John nodded but not before asking the Asari her name.

"Who exactly are you by the way? I know you're an Asari Commando from what the Lieutenant tells me, though I have no idea what an Asari is but that's about it."

The Asari raised any eyebrow as it were and smirked a bit before replying.

"If this was not a serious matter, I would have preferred that you told me who you are, but that might as well will have to wait…my name is Shanni."

John nodded and quickly moved out while three of the freed Marines were left by Alice to guard the Asari and keep them from getting caught in the crossfire. The Spartan quickly began to hack into the base's overall floor plan using his link into the computer system. He had to admit that while a good deal of the technology was advanced in some fields, they didn't even have any basic firewalls that met the Covenant and UNSC standard…this further convinced him that maybe something that happened in Slipspace when they were moving through it.

He placed that aside as he soon downloaded the base's design specs and then moved out, noting that the Commander was being held three rooms ahead of them. He also managed to spot two more of the Batarians, they quickly open fired, and one managed to send out the alarm.

The Spartan ducked and so did the Alliance Marine and the Asari Commando, but the Spartan didn't wait long as he unleashed several laser bursts that easily tore through the Kinetic Barriers of the Batarians and carved smoking holes in their bodies as he checked the power readings to see that his MA7 was already reaching the end of the fusion cells power, he quickly ejected the nearly spent cell and placed in a new one and moved to the door.

He was followed by the Alliance Marine Lieutenant and the Asari Commando but both women looked at the slain Batarians with wide eyes as they had just seen something totally unexpected. The being who rescued them carried LASER weapons!

(Damn…actual infantry sized laser weapons? How the heck is that even possible? The only Lasers that exist are those we use on ships!)

(By the Goddess, that's impossible, Lasers have only been used on warships, the idea of a portable laser based infantry weapon is completely unheard of.)

Both of them barely had time to ponder it as the Spartan opened the door into what appeared to be a meeting hall, the Spartan quickly fired several laser bolts into the chests of three more Batarians, and they dropped, one Batarian makes the mistake of peaking and gets his face hit by another laser bolt, all four drop dead as the other Batarians began to open fire on the massive behemoth. Both Alice and Shanni got to cover but they noted that the Spartan was not taking cover at all.

They watched as the Spartan was covered in an ever flowing wave of energy that resembled shields but as they saw that the Batarians were pouring out all of their firepower and not even bypassing the shields at all, they wondered just how was he able to handle that assault as over two dozen Batarians were unleashing a literal hailstorm of bullets at him.

…

John didn't bother hiding for this battle as the bullets didn't damage his MJOLNIR's shields as the assault of the Batarians only took a small percentage of his shields and did so with not much success. He quickly located the shooters and began to unleash his own attacks as laser bolts were fired back in answer to their attacks on him, he was not alone as the Alliance Marine and the Asari Commando also got involved in the fighting as they pinned down a number of the Batarians.

The room became a blood bath as the Spartan finally took cover but not before sending over twelve Batarians to the ground and the smell of melted ceramics and burned flesh, dried blood was everywhere, the female Marine and the Asari also had a number of kills to their name while the Spartan allowed his Mark X to recharge it's shields before going at it again, only this time he moved to the pistols and as soon as he was clear, he rushed out and fired several rounds and took down the shields of several of the Batarians and tore through them easily. However as soon as he was done firing out a barrage, he spotted the incoming data on the pistols and noted no counters for ammunition but some sort of heat gauge. He fired the pistols even more and took down a few more Batarians, he turned as he was about to counter a Batarian's attack but then spotted some sort of energy well near him that sent the attacker flying into a wall for a nasty splat. He turned and spotted the Asari covered in some sort of glowing energy field which she used as she sent yet another Batarian flying into a mass of crates.

He went out on a limb and guessed it must be what she called Biotics and now he could understand why the Batarians used the restraint on her. The ability she had was similar to the old theory of Psionics that used to be just something he picked up reading about, it was proven false at some levels, but he kept in mind that she was an alien that was undocumented in the UNSC database…or a completely different race entirely.

The Spartan tore away his thoughts and continued to fire away with his weapons as he then got a warning that the pistols were overheated, he placed them aside and took out his Assault Rifle and killed three more while the Commando and the Marine were able to take down their own targets. As soon as that was over, they moved to the next room and flushed out a few more stragglers which the Spartan quickly eliminated. However, there were a trio of the Batarians that caught the eye and ire of the Asari as she took them down in a very painful fashion.

The Spartan wagered a guess the three must have been the ones who killed the other Asari and he confirmed it when he asked the Asari after she was done wit them.

"I take it they were the ones who killed your fellow Commando?"

Shanni nodded at that.

"Yes, I know that killing them will not bring Nasshia back, but at least she will be happier in the afterlife knowing that these bastards paid for their actions."

The Spartan shrugged and moved on quickly as soon as he entered the last room while both Alice and Shanni secured the rest of the rooms to look for surviving Batarians, he was greeted with a not so pleasant sight the second he entered the last room which was where the captured Commander was.

…

In the last room of the base…

The last surviving Batarian, and no doubt the commanding officer of this group was raving mad while holding his prisoner, the same woman who had sent the distress call, she had a number of cuts and bruises on her as the Spartan could see. He looked at the massive being before him and was not in the best of moods as he had witnessed the carnage of his forces by this lone being and then when it rescued the Alliance Marines and the Asari Commando. He had personally beaten the human commander for this as he knew that no doubt the figure before him had been able to receive the distress signal and come to their rescue.

He should have just killed her, but she would make a good slave to any prospective buyer even if she was an Alliance officer and once the obedience chip was installed then it would be easier and he had every intention to watch as they implanted it without any painkillers.

But now his forces were all slaughtered, their slaves freed and everything ruined all because of this Alliance bitch and this unknown bastard who had to come in and play hero. He glared at the Spartan who aimed his Assault Rifle at him and placed the weapon he had right into the side of the Alliance officer's head and shouted.

"Drop your weapon!"

The Batarian commander raged on while holding his pistol into the right temple of the Alliance officer while the Spartan faced him. The Spartan didn't seem to respond at first and that infuriated the Batarian as he shouted once more.

"I said drop it or I let this Alliance bitch get what her race deserves!"

John didn't reply but he did lower his weapon and dropped it with a dull clang and the Batarian smiled as he raged against the Spartan while aiming at him with the pistol in his hand.

"You are going to pay for this! You and all those who side with the humans are going…"

Before he could finish his words, the Spartan moved his arm and before the Batarian could react, a massive golden yellow arm came from the armored being's raised hand and grabbed his extended arm in a grip that would make even a Krogan wince. The glowing hand that gripped his arm below the wrist then tightened and the sound of breaking bones as well as crushed ceramic plates was heard as well as the scream of the Batarian as he dropped his weapon.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

The Alliance officer managed to use this to free herself and move away while grabbing the now discarded pistol that was once pressing into her head and aiming it at her former captor, but she barely had time to react as the Batarian was suddenly yanked forward towards the Spartan. The Batarian screamed even more as the Spartan quickly introduced a powerful punch to his chest while saying as he punched the Batarian.

"You talk too much."

SMASH!

The sound of the floor plates of the base, buckling and deforming as well as the sickening sound of flesh being pulped, bones broken and ceramic plating being fractured. The commander looked in shock as the foot deep crater where the Batarian was buried in was covered in blood and some flesh and organs as the Spartan stood up with a blood fist which he shock clear of the blood while retrieving his weapon. The weapon gave a slight metallic sound after being latched on the magnetic holding straps.

She aimed her pistol at the massive human like form as it came to her, unsure what to make of her rescuer until it spoke in a human voice which was also male.

"Are you all right ma'am?"

The female officer didn't respond for a moment and that made the Spartan speak out.

"I'm not here as a threat to you, I received the distress call you sent out and tracked it here to this base."

"Y-You're here to rescue us?"

It was not long before the two of them were joined by Alice and Shanni with both of them managing to steer clear of the deformed area of the floor which had the Batarian commander's body with his now crushed chest area and a massive amount of blood behind him, making quite the mess. The Lieutenant spoke to her commanding officer once she was close enough.

"He's not kidding Commander; he just tore through the Batarians like they were not even there. and as you saw, he's got some serious technology. Calls himself a Spartan as well, not really sure what that means but as you can see, he's got quite the punch."

"I have to agree with your Lieutenant on that matter, Commander Caitlin, he possesses a great deal of technology and aptitude for warfare, the Batarians didn't stand a chance in the battle at all."

"I see…"

Caitlin then faced the Spartan who offered his hand to help her up, she nodded and took the offer and was soon on her feet though she winched at the pain on her side as the results of her interrogation had not been healed all that much. She however bit it back and spoke to the Spartan.

"I guess I have to thank you for the rescue…the name's Commander Caitlin Monroe of the Systems Alliance but I've got no doubt you know that already…you've got a name…Spartan?"

"Spartan-117 or Master Chief, or just Chief will do for now, with all hostile in this base terminated, I believe it's time to evacuate, I'll be with you all in a minute, I need to make some salvage runs."

All three had no idea what he was talking about but after seeing him decimate the Batarians they decided not to argue as Alice gave her commanding officer some Medi-gel to heal her wounds after finding a nearby dispenser. As soon as that was done, the Alliance Marine and her Commander met up with the others while Shanni scanned the base to be sure that the base was cleared of all Batarians.

Once they were done, the Spartan decided to pack it up and managed to find an empty crate and stuffed it full of salvaged Batarian weapons that Cortana could be able to look for and he was soon dragging the crate using only his strength, much to the shock of those with him. He contacted Cortana once they were out of the base and the others saw the slaughter of the outside Batarians which was why the Spartan had been able to infiltrate the base with little trouble.

"Cortana, I've got out the captives and there are humans along with…another alien, sending you the visual data now."

"Okay…got it….whoa, this is different, there's no Covenant race that looks…this human like before. It looks female to me from here, and it certainly has a human body shape and form."

"I know…send over an Albatross for pickup, I've gotten some of the alien weapons, apparently they happen to be called Batarians…and considering what I've seen, they don't seem to like humans all that much."

"Same old song, hang on, powering up an Albatross."

…

In the Dawn's Bridge…

The two UNSC members were both deep in thought with what they have just learned and it was still a bit hard to swallow. After the Albatross had picked them up and headed for the Dawn, he decided to talk to the human Commander and the Asari Commando and tell them that as soon as they got to the Dawn there was going to be some discussions on matters. They agreed since he did rescue them and when they got in range of the Dawn they were asking what sort of ship it was and he provided some details of the ship.

As soon as they arrived to the base, they were quite surprised at the sheer size of it and they were surprised that it was actually a Frigate as they had never seen a Frigate this size before in their lives. They were also surprised to see the Huragok who were moving about in the Hanger bay as soon as the Albatross landed and they got out of the heavy drop-ship. At first they thought they were looking at Hanar and that made John wonder just what they meant by Hanar. They also looked at the ship's interior as well as the vehicles, wondering just what they were looking at. Their comments about what they saw further confused the Spartan, especially when it concerned the humans.

The real strike to the gut came when Cortana appeared in a nearby holo-tank to greet the new arrivals, to the surprise of both John and Cortana, the human marines and the Asari aimed their weapons at the A.I, he quickly stepped in and stopped them from firing and demanded why was it they were aiming their weapons at Cortana.

It took some time to convince them to stop looking at Cortana as if she was the enemy but it was done and soon he was in a dialogue with the Asari Commando and the two high ranking Alliance officers. They were still uncomfortable with Cortana being there but they kept their peace. Nevertheless, when they asked John what race he was, he said he was human. That got some level of attention and he could tell that they didn't believe him so he removed his helmet to show that he was human.

When he did take his helmet off, he wondered why the female human marines were suddenly struck silent and the Asari Commando was also suddenly struck silent as well. He called their attention and asked them if they were satisfied and when they nodded slowly, he placed his helmet back, unmindful of the slight looks of disappointment on the faces of the Marines as well as the slight smile of the Asari Commando and Cortana's amused sigh.

As soon as that was settled, they began to work on finding out what was going on. And what they learned from the Alliance Marines had completely surprised them, Caitlin as well as Alice told them about the time table of Earth and how they had found the Prothean ruins there and how this had upgraded the technological level of Humanity and then led to the use of E-zero and the technology that was now in use by the Systems Alliance which was founded by the eighteen largest and most powerful nations on Earth.

The discovery of the Mass Relays and the founding of many colonies after they were able to use the Relays to move around the different parts of the galaxy that they were able to explore. They also mentioned the encounter with the Turians that led to the Battle of Shanxi and the rise of tensions between them and the Turians as well as some hostility between veterans of both sides and their efforts to work with the rest of the races. This also included information about the Citadel Council, which was the governing body in the galaxy and whatever information they had on hand.

The Asari Commando Shanni was also able to tell the Spartan and the A.I about her own people the Asari and how they were one of the founding races of the Council alongside the Salarians and eventually the Turians themselves. And as such, they were the diplomats of the Council and believed in maintaining stability and peace alongside those who were part of the Council and among the Council races as well.

She did mention as much as she was willing to allow about her race, namely the fact that they were a single gender race, and were natural Biotics along with being able to meld with other races to have children by bonding with the other partner's nervous system. The Spartan raised an eyebrow at that while Cortana was also interested at the implications as Shanni replied that only Asari were born through these unions as well.

…

All of which was completely unknown to the two as they were quick to record everything and try to make sense of it. They also told the three to wait for them to decide if and when they would tell them of who they were as well. The three didn't like it but they were willing to listen and they were now seeing to those under their charge for the moment while they were on the ship.

All that led to the two being in the bridge to try and make some level of sense as to what had happened and what was going on. It was not long before Cortana spoke to the Spartan.

"Care to hear a theory John?"

"Go ahead."

"I think that Slipspace anomaly we had encountered during the trip through Slipspace had somehow…tore open a hole to another dimension somehow and after we left Slipspace it must have sealed up. Keep in mind how the UNSC science community once viewed normal space like a crumpled ball of paper and Slipspace was the space between the crumpled pieces of paper. It might be possible that we were sent into a completely different realm through Slipspace by that massive wave of Slipspace energy and when we exited, we came here."

John was silent as he began to think it through bit by bit and he then spoke.

"It's a bit…hard to grasp, I'll admit, but it does make some sense…still I don't recall anything in Déjà's lectures about alternate dimensions being reality, only a theoretical idea yet hardly explored."

Cortana chuckled and replied to that.

"I suppose that's true, but here we are, it's the only theory that makes some level of sense here, the technology does not match, the presences of….Biotics, the different timelines, the new species…we don't know anything about them because we came into a completely different galaxy…which would explain why they don't know anything about what we know…the only thing that does have SOME resemblance are these Protheans the others told us about. They are like the Forerunners, with the exception that just about every race is using their technology and Humanity is not being exterminated in a decades long war because of misinterpretation, desire for power, madness, well you know the rest"

"You don't need to remind me…so I guess the next question is what to do with our guests? We might have more than enough room and supplies, but I don't we can keep them here indefinitely, we might be mistaken for kidnappers if their groups decide to send out search parties."

Cortana thought it over and replied to that

"You've got a point, we might as well try to be diplomatic and make our appearance to the galaxy we landed in. If we reveal ourselves and be officially recognized, that might help us stay out of trouble."

John shook his head at that idea.

"I fail to see how that might work actually, keep in mind that the technology we have on this ship, you, the weapons, the MJOLNIR, and myself was not exactly standard issue around here. The minute we reveal ourselves and the Dawn to the Council in the Citadel, every government agency, conventional or otherwise will try anything to get their hands on us, and I can wager a bet that there will be shadowy organizations who will gladly spend every credit they have and send every soldier and agent they have to get their hands on us."

Cortana nodded with a smile.

"That's true, but there is a silver lining to that, those same governments and organizations will do whatever they can to keep the others from getting us and will do whatever they can to make sure that nothing happens to us directly since they don't want to lose such a resource to their rivals. It might not be long before they might decide to take drastic action to get their hands on us, but as far as I can guess, this is a viable option until we find a better choice. Besides, if we try to keep out of the radar the old fashioned way, it might sooner or later bring us to the spotlight even if we don't want to, so better to have it done now than later which might make things harder for us."

"So in simple translation, we're the large and juicy piece of meat to be fought over by the wolves?"

"True, but unlike said piece of meat, we happen to have the guns to fight back with."

The Spartan chuckled a bit at that and saw that Cortana did have a point, after reading the data, he knew that their ship had MORE than enough power to defend itself and fight back if needed so while they were technically alone in this new reality that they somehow landed in, they were far from being helpless.

"All right, we'll try this method until we find a better solution, power up the ship and let's go to the Citadel, but I think it's best we call those three up here."

Cortana nodded and it was not long before the two Alliance officers arrived as well as the lone Asari Commando arrived into the bridge as the Spartan then spoke to them.

"I'll be taking you to the Citadel station so I can drop you off there, I also plan to have a chance to talk to the leaders thereon some very important matters."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at that statement and was curious just what this man had in his mind as she spoke to him.

"What sort of matters Chief?"

"Best not to talk about it now, you'll find out soon enough."

"Why not tell us instead?"

"Let's just say it's very much an official matter."

The two women looked at the man and decided to restrain their questions for a batter time, seeing that they were not going to get a lot out of him for now. The same could be said for Shanni, she would have preferred to try and meld with him to get a chance to see his memories as it was possible for Asari like her to read and see memories when they meld with members of other races. However, after seeing him slaughter the Batarians with little effort, she decided not to make such a move that might anger the Spartan…or human…or whatever he was.

However she noted that he was not heading to the direction of the nearest Mass Relay and spoke out.

"Pardon Chief, but if you want to go to the Citadel, you still need to go to a Mass relay to do so."

John replied as he read the scanners.

"No need to go to a Mass Relay for this ship."

Alice was confused and spoke.

"What do you mean? Every ship uses a Mass relay to get from one system to the next."

"The Forward Unto Dawn does not use E-zero and so it has a different way to travel from one place to another, give me the coordinates to the exact location of the Citadel station and I will show you."

The three women looked at one another and Alice decided to risk it and give the Chief a pad that had the Citadel's coordinates. The Spartan took it and allowed Cortana's avatar to touch the pad, allowing the A.I to take in the coordinates. The UNSC A.I smiled a bit and soon spoke to the Spartan.

"We're ready, opening the portal…now!"

Alice, Caitlin and Shanni were confused by that statement and were about to ask what the A.I meant by portal until they spotted a large sphere appear before them in the ship's monitors. All three of them looked on in surprise at the portal before them and then before they could react, the ship moved towards it and soon, they were now in Slipspace.

…

In Citadel Space…

In the Systems Alliance Navy Cruiser New Washington, there was a lot of activity as they were now making their way to the Citadel Station. One such person seemed to be above it all, unless one was a mind reader and was able to take a look in the mind of the man and see that he had a lot on his mind.

And well he should…after all, he had just been in discussion concerning a serious move for Humanity as a whole in Citadel Space.

Captain David Anderson was not one for politics nor for the usual banter between politicians. He had been a graduate of the N7 Program of the Systems Alliance and had once been a Spectre candidate, but had his evaluation turned into a fiasco and he got rejected. He still felt that he had been biased by the Spectre who was evaluating him and he had good reason to.

Saren was never fond of the Systems Alliance and Humanity in general due to the report that he lost his brother in the Battle of Shanxi. And always believed that Humanity needed to learn it's place, and he was more than willing to state that when given the chance.

It galled Anderson, but with Saren being a high ranking Spectre and one of the best in the service of the Council, any attempt to reveal his darker nature and his ruthless actions tended to be brushed aside. Saren was a high ranking Spectre since he got results and at times, that was more important to the Council, added to the fact that as a Spectre, Saren was untouchable when it came to his records.

He had been with Admiral Steven Hackett and Ambassador Donnel Udina, the former was a long time ally and someone Anderson related to, while the latter was not someone he liked a good deal. However, he knew that Udina does what he can to keep the Systems Alliance intact and in the good graces of the Citadel Council, a thankless and stressful job so it was not surprising that Donnel was not exactly easy to get along with in any sense of the word.

However, he placed such thoughts of his colleague aside for now and focused on the matter that had brought them into the discussion in the first place.

Even though their first attempt to have one of their race inducted into the Spectres was not successful, they were going to try again and had been reviewing the files of potential candidates who could be evaluated. Udina returned to the Citadel early to attend to the latest workloads and Admiral Hackett had to deal with some matters in Arcturus Station with the Fleet stationed there. He personally had some prospective candidates but it was still in the air on who they could pick.

For now he was going back to handle other matters, namely establishing contacts and keep up to pace with the latest news for the joint project between the Turians and the Alliance. He looked to see a number of Turian ships moving about in the regular patrol patterns as well as the few Alliance ships that made the routes.

He turned and gave the orders for docking to begin, even though this was not his ship, he was given command of it for the time being as the Captain of the New Washington was currently recovering in the Medical Bay due to an injury when he was taking stock of the engine when talking with the chief engineer for a more hands on look. The injury was not fatal and the engine was now working fine, but that made Anderson take charge.

He moved to the helm and looked at the Citadel as they came closer and was about to ask to have a comm.-channel opened to talk to Udina to show that he had arrived when one of the nearby crew members cried out, this made the man turn to face her as she was looking at the computer she was using.

"What is it?"

"There seems to be some sort of massive energy spike coming in Captain!"

"Can you locate the source?"

"Yes…it's over there sir, whatever it is, it's massive…I've never seen readings like this before!"

Anderson ordered the ship to stop and go to the direction of the energy surge, and when the ship was in position, he looked to the location where the unknown anomaly was detected…and his eyes widened.

Before him was a massive sphere of energy, the outer edges had a deep blue glow to it and there was a void of pure black that took in all light. It made no senses to him what it was. But what he saw next was really going to grab his attention. Out came a ship, but it was unlike any ship that he had ever seen before in his life. It was colored grey white and seemed to be rather large, larger then even this cruiser which was no small ship. There was something both vaguely familiar and yet alien about it. There was no mistaking the fact that this ship had the aura of a warship as well, there were things on the ship that screamed weapon systems to the former N7 Marine.

The one thing that got his attention was the fact that despite looking both familiar and alien at the very same time, there was name and serial designation on the ship as well as a symbol that looked oddly familiar as well to the man.

It was an eagle with wings outstretched over a globe with a long strip with the initials UNSC on it, he looked it over and saw that the ship had a Designation number and a name, it was FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn. That made him feel a great deal of surprise, if he didn't know any batter, this was similar to the way Alliance Navy Ships were designated, but he knew of no ships with the name Forward Unto Dawn, not had he seen any ship of the navy built like this one.

He turned to the crew member he had spoken to earlier.

"Can you scan the ship?"

"Aye Captain…"

It took a minute or two before she replied.

"Captain, it's emitting some sort of…kinetic barrier, but the barrier is emitting energy at levels that I've never seen before!"

"How high?"

"It's completely off the universally known charts Captain! Whatever's powering it's kinetic barriers makes our own E-zero engine look like a weak battery pack!"

The captain looked to see that already this area of space was fast becoming crowded as a number of Turian cruisers came about and were now facing the ship before that had just appeared completely out of space and without even using the Mass Relay that was used to get to the area where the Citadel was. He could understand their actions but still, this was totally unexpected to say the least and no doubt the very second that the people in the Citadel heard of this, there was going to be a riot of epic proportions.

(Could these be Protheans? No… it couldn't be…)

"Captain…there's an incoming transmission from the ship!"

"Put it on speakers and have the translator software at the ready!"

He had no doubt that the other ships were going to do the same thing to figure out just what language the possible crew of the ship might use. However, he and no doubt just about every member of the New Washington crew…and those in the ships were stunned to hear a HUMAN voice speaking English of all things.

"Attention, this Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the United Nations Space Command Naval Special Warfare Command and acting Captain of the UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn."

"I am not here as a hostile force, I am merely requesting permission to dock with the Citadel to release a number of recently liberated Alliance Marines to the care of the Systems Alliance, as well as a number of recently liberated Asari, all of whom have been rescued from a Batarian slaver base. I have no intention of starting a fight here at the Citadel with anyone but I will defend myself if greeted with hostile action, over."

One thing was for sure in the mind of Anderson…

THIS was totally unexpected!

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

I've actually planned to make my own Halo Mass Effect Crossover story for some time now and I decided that I might as well make the Prologue to it is now in paper and not clogging up my head and causing me to be distracted and lost in my work.

I have already played Mass effect so I know the storyline well enough so don't ask me about the details or ask me if I know Mass Effect. I do my homework so don't bother me too much about that stuff.

…

The Master Chief now uses four new Tiers of weapons apart from the conventional stuff with the three of the new tiers built in the appearance of UNSC firepower.

The first Tier is Gauss which is similar to the Mass Accelerator technology of Mass Effect, but has the advantage of not overheating and therefore does not use thermal clips, this is countered by the need for it to be reloaded with clips and as such has limited ammunition. It also does not have the interchangeable ammunition types of the guns of Mass effect, but has the advantage of being able to inflict more baseline damage and having greater impact force on Kinetic barriers.

The second Tier is Lasers and these operate in the same principle as the Gauss in the sense that it has a cooling system, but instead of using clips it uses fusion power cells as ammunition and therefore these cells have to be recharged in order to be used in combat and is slightly bulkier, as well as there is now Shotgun variant. This is countered by the fact that it can bypass Kinetic barriers and cause severe damage to regular targets and even armored foes, making it an effective choice against some heavier armored targets.

The third Tier is Plasma and like second Tier Laser weapons can work wondered on organic targets and rips Kinetic Barriers to bits. However it has a higher overheating risk and has to cool down like the Halo weapons in order to work again and it can only be recharged in the Dawn or with a portable plasma fuel source. However it does have an increased ammunition charge and also the weapons can be loaded cooling core units to increase the cooling effect and allow the weapon to be used again. These were still Covenant weapons that used Plasma, but were heavily improved, and yes, the Energy Sword and the Particle Beam Rifle is still there.

And the Fourth but very limited Tier is the Light Based Weapons made from Forerunner technology. These weapons have the same power as both Lasers and Plasma but are able to actually fuse together to form a more powerful beam that can cause greater damage, totally ignoring Kinetic Barriers and bypassing even the heaviest armor. However since it is limited only to the Assault Rifle, SMG, Pistol, Battle Rifle, and Sniper Rifle lines, these weapons cannot always take advantage of that special function. They do however have such advanced power regulation systems that they do not overheat.

Before I get the complaint that these weapons are overkill, keep in mind that these weapons were intended for the Spartan to be used and as much as I like the guns in Mass Effect, I want to Chief to use the iconic weapons of Halo to show that he is indeed from another universe and reality entirely so it adds to the mystery around him which to me is a good thing.

…

Anyways, as you can see, the Dawn has been rebuilt from the ground up and given a major overhaul as well as a number of new technologies to boot. It has a number of Forerunner features now and also has a small compliment of Huragok and Constructors to handle extremely delicate repairs and modifications if needed and are too delicate for human hands.

It also sports some nasty weapons, shields, and armor so it is a powerhouse of a Frigate in the same way the Master Chief's MJOLNIR, which is now dubbed as the Mark X. Now before I start getting reviews and messages saying that I've over powered the Chief and his ship, here's some details that you need to get straight.

On the MJOLNIR, the thing was badly damaged and is on a backup system mode after the Chief left High Charity and was back to Earth, so it would make sense that it was repaired and given a number of upgrades. All of which will soon be put to the test in the Mass Effect world as I have plans of my own that will not be following the Canon route of the game. The upgrades will prove to be highly useful in the long run and it can give the Spartan the edge and at least he doesn't have to change armor types or install new packages. It can even give him the edge in fighting Biotics as well. If you're wondering about the Mark VII MJOLNIR and thinking I'm making it up, drop by a well supported Halo site and find Dr. Halsey's Journal section, as there was an attempt to make a Mark VII variant of the MJOLNIR and it is canon confirmed.

On the Dawn, you might think that this ship is overpowered, and it might be in some respects, but it is going to need them as you can bet that the Dawn will be having a hell of a workout in the long run. Also the arrival of such a highly advanced yet human built ship IS going to send some serious questions all through the Citadel so you can bet that John will have to juggle a number of matters, chief of which is to keep the technology in the Dawn from landing in the wrong hands.

Besides, there might even be battles where overwhelming firepower trumps stealth anytime.

…

At any rate, with this done and out in the open I can make the new chapters for a few of the stories I am updating, I might update this along with the Naruto Avatar TLA crossover at some point but not today.

Send me your reviews and comments, as well as constructive critiques as per the rules, send me flames on the other hand, and it's going out the window.

Bye!


	2. Playing the Game

Mass Effect X Halo: The Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie so don't ask me if I do…

Chapter 1

Playing the Game

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

John armed himself with one of the MA6 Gauss Assault Rifles and a pair of M7B SOCOM pistols while downloading Cortana into the Mark X and leaving a copy of her to manage the docking procedures to the Citadel. He looked once more at the view of the Citadel station and couldn't help but admire the look of it.

He had to give the Protheans some level of credit for making the darn thing, it was massive and larger than even a Super MAC armed ODP, the only thing that would have dwarfed it would have been the Ark itself. He scanned the ships that flew by and took note of the military style formation that they flew and that told him that this must be some form of defense fleet. So far, from what he learned of the Citadel from the Alliance Marines officer Caitlin, and from the surviving Asari Commando, this was indeed the Citadel and as such was the greatest relic left behind by the Protheans.

As he looked at it, Cortana appeared in the nearby holo-tank and spoke.

"It's impressive all right, shame the Ark isn't around, that would have been a sight here too."

"I suppose, but right now, that station isn't what concerns me."

The A.I already knew just what her Spartan guardian was driving at and replied.

"No John, what concerns you is what or rather who you will find right?"

"Yeah, you got that right Cortana, this is a First Contact situation in all ways and while the UNSC might not possibly exist here…I still have to keep to the protocol of the UNSC, it's confusing to me. How can I keep secrets that I know are of highly sensitive nature, when the reasons I keep them secret don't even exist here?"

Cortana could tell that even with the Mark X on and his helmet, John had no idea what to do…and truth be told, he was not alone in the whole thing either as she knew that they were in a totally different reality all together. However, she kept herself focused on the matter at hand and spoke out.

"We just have to adapt and make the most of it. We keep what we know to be too vital to ourselves, and tell what we can tell them. We'll let them figure out what to believe."

John looked at Cortana seriously and replied.

"I guess, well then, let's get this over with."

The A.I smiled as she guided the Dawn to a nearby docking bay. The good news was that there was a universal docking system on the Citadel that Cortana found to be compatible with one of the access hatches of the Dawn so that was where they were going to disembark from. As she locked in the Dawn and managed to get a confirmation that the Dawn was secured, she began to call in the people who were onboard that they had docked with the Citadel and they were allowed to leave.

She naturally kept then in the crew's quarters which had their own hygiene facilities and allowed them to eat if they wanted to in the galley, but the engineering sectors, armories, NAV room, and several others were very much on lock down from them since she had no idea what might happen if they were allowed to wander about without being kept an eye on by her and the Spartan. Thankfully they didn't have to worry too much as the human crew and the Asari were not causing any problems on the ship so far.

The Spartan's haul of weapons here currently on lock down and were to be processed soon enough, since it seemed that these weapons were not unknown to the Humans they met as well as the Asari. This would mean that this was based on Protheans technology or schematics, so having an idea on how these worked and just how effective they were was certainly a vital task that they could not put off for any reason.

John moved out and was soon at the access hatch and opened the door as he moved out to see that the docking bay was specially shielded from space outside in the Serpent Nebula. This was technically dangerous territory due to the radiation and more coming from a Nebula so it must have either very strong shielding or special alloy to filter out the radiation. His study of the place showed to him that traffic in the docking area was fairly high and it made him shake his head.

The only place he knew that was this heavily trafficked was Reach itself with it being the hub of military power of the UNSC. However, his study of the docking bay was put on hold for the moment as Cortana told him that they had company.

…

The Master Chief carried his Gauss Assault Rifle in both hands while staring at the collection of aliens before him. All of them were obviously armed and wore armor like the ones he had seen the Batarians wear as well as the Alliance Marines but seemed to be of a uniform color despite the species difference. He saw some humans in the mix and three new races to boot, he recognized some of the armed security as Asari, but the other two races that composed the security forces were unknown to him as of the moment.

One race resembled the former Covenant race, the Elites, but only in terms of some physical characteristics. The face was certainly not that of an Elite or Sangheili as they were more formally known. The new creatures didn't have the four jaws of his former enemies nor did the Elites have any metallic looking outer coverings on their faces that resembled an exoskeleton of sorts which no doubt was on the body as well, not to mention the fact that armor they had was certainly not that of the Elites. This armor looked too human-like in form and they also had two fingers and a thumb as well. The features and form were similar to avian life forms than that of the Sangheili, and judging by their form, they were descended from a predatory species as well. They also had tattoos of a sort on their faces which he had no doubt had some sort of cultural and ethnic significance.

Overall, this race might have vague similarities to his former enemies and later allies, but this further confirmed to him that this was indeed a different universe all together.

The other race seemed to be similar to an amphibious race with two hornlike growths on either side of the top of the head. Their eyes were larger and no doubt had some ability to see in a different spectrum set than a regular human. The elongated body would suggest a high metabolic rate and the build would mean that they were agile beings though not by much. And if they were amphibian in descent, it would mean that their birthing methods would be different as well. In a way, they vaguely resembled some sort of fictional alien race that he and his former classmates in his civilian life had seen when they were not at school. He forgot what they were but the members of this race before him fit the image well enough.

These two races were unknown to him for now though he had every intention to find out what he could about them, namely to see if they were potential dangers or not like the Asari as he needed to have a full understanding of the races here. John knew that this was a first contact situation in every respect and keeping himself from relying on past experiences was needed since the usual run and gun…and blowing things to bits was an open invitation to a serious beating. The last thing he wanted was to get into a situation that would get him and Cortana into trouble and worse, being shot at for no reason.

One of the beings, wearing what appeared to be a black armor/uniform setup with red, teal blue and white markings stepped forward. The being looked to be of the first race he encountered and had white markings on his face's exoskeleton structure and judging by the way the others moved away from him, including the human members meant that this one was a high ranking officer.

It was not long before the being spoke.

"I am Executor Pallin of C-Sec, that by the way is Citadel Security to you, I and my officers will be escorting you to our head quarters where we will hold you for now until we get word from the Council what do with you. You're ship will be here with its dock being in lock down and we will have to confiscate your weapons for now."

John tensed up a bit at the mentioning of confiscating his weapons, the only time a Spartan ever gave up his or her weapons was when it either ran out of ammunition, power, or in death. Giving it to another being was only done if they were identified as friendly and this one before him was not recognized as friendly just yet. Cortana noticed that and quickly spoke to the Master Chief via neural link.

"Go ahead and do it John, we do need to play ball here."

"Maybe, but that does not mean I have to like it."

Pallin was about to repeat his order when the Spartan pressed a switch on his weapon and placed it into a grip that showed that he was going to give the weapon to him. Pallin nodded and took the weapon, grunting a bit at the weight of the weapon as the Spartan spoke to him, which surprised him a bit.

"I expect to have my weapon back in one piece Executor."

Pallin nodded a bit and had to give the being credit for being able to heft a weapon like this one, there was no denying that this was a weapon of a military man just by the look alone. It was human enough in terms of its design looks, but was no way the same as the weapons being used by the Alliance.

"Fair enough, I will however have to mention that as par Citadel policy, you will have to undergo a medical examination for any contaminants, diseases, and the like."

"Fair enough."

The Spartan then handed his SOCOM pistols to the two C-Sec guards who came to their leader's side to take them and they were also surprised at not just the look of the weapons but the slight weight of them as well. As soon as he was done, the C-Sec members began to form a detail around the Spartan as the ones he had rescued were already making their way back to the Citadel to their respective areas with the Marines of the Alliance making their way to the Human Embassy.

As he moved through the area, the Spartan began to get all the visual details into his mind while also allowing Cortana to scan the area with him acting as her eyes. As the made his way through the Citadel, he spotted more of the Asari wearing different clothes as well as some being armed with weapons. As far as he could understand of the Asari, they were a single gender race able to reproduce with any other race and have children, and were talented Biotics in all rights. He also spotted a number of other beings.

One resembled jelly fish of all things that seemed to be somewhat bio-luminescent as well and seemed to be floating, it was similar to the Huragok, but nowhere near the same in both appearance and movement. He however noted that it was actually able to speak in various languages, showing that it was indeed a sentient being and capable of speech. He had no idea what to make of that one and scanned it for future reference or if and when he found any databases concerning that creature.

However, Cortana then spoke to him privately.

"Why don't you try asking any of the guards what that being is?"

"That's a fairly good idea, the question is, are they going to answer my question?"

"No sense not trying out to find out right? Besides, this would at least tell them you're not a machine."

John sighed and tapped one of the guards, a human male on the shoulder. That got the man to look at him though he could tell that t man was tense as hell as he had reflexively reached for his side arm. John kept his own military trained and experienced reflexes from reacting as well. That was no mean feat but the Spartan could do it anyway.

The man then replied neutrally.

"What is it?"

The Spartan replied to that question and pointed at the creature at the same time.

"What is that?"

The C-Sec security member looked and saw what the Spartan was pointing at and couldn't help but feel a bit confused as the Hanar were by far a common sight here in the Citadel of all things. But he decided to reply to the question of the seven foot tall giant before him.

"It's one of the Hanar, and no doubt one of their religious criers, they come in droves every time there's something concerning the Protheans. Don't mind it, they are relatively harmless, though I've heard they got a killer of a grip somewhere."

John looked at the creature once more, trying to figure what it was, but he knew better than to try and guess a species he knew nothing about. He directed his attention to the C-Sec officer and spoke.

"Is there anything else about them?"

The man looked at the Spartan and couldn't help but look at the armored giant with some level of surprise, he would have asked where the guy had been living in for the past years, but decided against it and replied.

"You can learn more from a Codex about the Hanar, I happen to have a spare copy with me, I can download it into an omni-tool if you have one."

John would have asked what was an omni-tool was had he not seen one in his time with Caitlin and Shanni. After being explained how it worked and what it was used for, Cortana was a bit impressed as she explained that it was like a weightless version of one standard issue UNSC chatter or something similar to the control interface panels of the Forerunners. Cortana had managed to study one that Caitlin had as a spare and began to study it's functions.

Afterwards, Cortana explained to him in private how it worked and how she had been able to modify the MJOLNIR's ability to transfer data like her to another system to take files stored in omni-tools. That meant that he could access any omni-tool and get the data in them if he needed to and it was a serious situation that required it.

With that in mind, he replied.

"Activate your omni-tool, I can download it from here."

The man was surprised by that yet he did so while they were all still on the move and activated his omni-tool. As soon as it was online the man watched as the Spartan moved his hand over to his omni-tool. The Master Chief did not miss the slight show of anxiety on the man's face as his hand was easily able to cover his arm.

(No doubt this guy thinks I can just easily crush his arm if I wanted to…the ironic part of it is, I actually can crush his arm if I wanted to.)

The Spartan put that out of his mind as his hand was covered in several swirling masses of golden light as Cortana accessed the files in the man's omni-tool and as soon as the light faded, the Spartan moved away and spoke to the man.

"Thank you."

…

In the Human Embassy…

Both Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina were busy listening to the report given to them by Commander Monroe and both men were busy trying to make some level of sense on what they had just learned about this…master Chief. The fact that he was a human like them yet armed with technology that was by all accounts impossible had them in the loop. But the description of the Dawn from the inside was something else entirely.

So far the ship was currently in dry dock and under the custody of C-Sec, and with strict orders from the Council for it to be locked down, there was little chance that the Alliance was going to get anything more solid about it. The fact that Caitlin had mentioned that she and her fellow Marines had been kept on lock down and forbidden access to the rest of the ship and it's systems added to the mystery. The one thing that shocked the two men even more was the fact that there was an actual A.I on the ship.

As soon as it was done, Udina was already speaking to the Alliance officer.

"Are you absolutely certain that there is an actual A.I on that ship Commander Monroe?"

The dark skinned woman nodded seriously and replied.

"I am not lying in any possible way Ambassador, there is an A.I on that ship…but apparently it's nothing like the Geth at all or a rogue A.I. It seems to be….something more."

"What do you mean by that A.I being more than just a regular A.I Commander?"

Caitlin turned to Anderson and replied.

"I…can't really say Captain, but that A.I that the ship seems to be more than what it seemed. It's avatar appeared completely human and interacted with the Chief as if it…was totally human. The odd thing was when we realized that it was an A.I, the Chief protected it and demanded that we lower our weapons, and he demanded that we explain why we were aiming our weapons at that A.I that he called 'Cortana'. And the A.I acted too human as well at times when it interacted with the Chief, that's all I know so far."

Udina looked on thoughtfully and then spoke.

"This whole situation is a proverbial Pandora's box that is about to open, on one hand we are talking about a fellow human who carries technology that is supposed to be impractical in many ways. On the other hand, the elements of the Citadel Council who dislike the Alliance are going to start trying to say we were developing some sort of super weapon, and who knows what their reaction would be to find an A.I in that ship. Do we have anything on the man himself?"

Caitlin replied to that.

"I honestly don't know Ambassador, all I know is that he carries firepower and technology I have never seen before, somehow he was able to use some form of….Biotics and possesses a strength and speed level that goes beyond what we can do with our own gene therapy for our forces. I do know for an absolute certainty that he's a military man through and through however, so he might respond better if he is speaking to a superior officer of our forces than a civilian diplomat."

Udina scowled a bit but nodded as well.

"That can work, I have no doubt that as soon as C-Sec is done processing the man, the Council is going to give the Alliance a hell of a day. Before that happens, I think getting some answers from the man himself is order of the day. It's best you go Anderson, if he recognizes you as a Captain, he might respond to you as he did Commander Monroe."

Anderson thought it over and agreed as he spoke to the woman in question.

"Thank you for your time and information Commander, I believe it's best that you head back to Arcturus Station and await further orders."

Caitlin saluted Anderson and soon took her leave, just in time for Anderson to move out and head for the head quarters of C-Sec.

…

In C-Sec head quarters…

John was currently being held in one of the holding cells and there was a powerful mass effect field holding him there. He however was not idle as he moved about even though he was out of his Mark X. So far the basic military clothes that he usually had on underneath his MJOLNIR's body suit were comfortable for him, but he was not the least bit comfortable with the fact that his MJOLNIR was not on him.

It chafed him to have to relinquish his Mark X and part of his military mind was screaming rather colorful expletives at him for allowing unknown beings access to the MJOLNIR. It was understandable in many respects, and the fact that he felt naked and vulnerable. The fact that Cortana was still there in the armor added to the worry. If the ones he rescued before reacted like they did to Cortana when they met her, there was no telling what these people would do if by luck they find his companion.

And with no way to be warned that she was in danger…it gnawed on him more than he liked.

However, there was some level of good news. The only way they would find Cortana was by powering up the Mark X and accessing it's core systems. The only way to do that was with a Spartan Neural Interface which only Spartans like him had. The Mark X was also patterned to respond only to him and also had special scanners that would identify any one attempting to access the MJOLNIR. If they were not recognized, the suit would lock down and not respond at all. The only way they could get access to it in that case was to actually take the Power Armor apart. When he had taken it off and placed it down on the floor earlier, it had taken at least a half dozen Asari using their Biotics to full tilt to carry the whole powered down Mark X so he had no doubt that putting it on was going to be a headache.

Add to the fact that it was now constructed from Forerunner Combat Skin Alloy of the finest quality, John had no doubt that the technicians of this C-Sec were going to have a heck of a time in trying to access the MJOLNIR. It eased some of the tension he was feeling of course, but it hardly made his tension go away right off the bat. It was then that he spotted two more guards appear, the both of them were the same as Executor Pallin who he now figured was a Turian having accessed the Codex concerning them after downloading what he could from the omni-tool before having to take off his Power Armor.

What surprised him a bit was the arrival of a tall and well muscled man who carried the appearance and stance of a seasoned military officer. The Spartan studied the man quickly and saw that he was a high ranking officer and carried the aura of someone who deserved to be treated with respect and courtesy. Without a single word, the Spartan got up and with practices grace was in full attention and saluted the man.

…

In Anderson's case, he was surprised as he gazed at the Spartan, as he arrived at C-Sec, the rumor mill was already at full swing in the place about their new arrival. Some of the male Turians were commenting on the man's armor and how it had taken a full half dozen Asari to carry it to the examination room. There were also some Salarians who mentioned that they were still trying to figure out just what to make of the medical reports concerning the man.

Apparently the man was augmented, but in a way that completely went against everything that the Council had placed concerning genetic modifications, and that made Anderson's head ache a bit as he knew that this discovery was only going to be trouble. A pair of Asari were also commenting on the sheer weight of the Armor they had apparently been helping haul with their fellow Asari and they marveled at how it was possible that the man could move with such heavy armor on him at all.

Anderson also heard some of the C-Sec personnel comment on how pale the man was when his armor was off of him, as if he had been in that suit his whole life and they wondered if he was like a Quarian but that was shot down as he was human in form and appearance. Some of the women even mentioned that despite being pale, he was not bad looking at all.

Now before him he could see why the rumor mill was this active. The man was tall, and built like a tank, and his face seemed impassive, as if carved from stone, and while he was not too good looking, Anderson could see why some of the female C-Sec reacted the way they did. However, the aura of military efficiency was there and from the way the man looked at him, there was no doubt in the former N7 Alliance Marine that this man was no stranger to battle.

He saluted the man and nodded to Pallin, the Turian Executor nodded a bit and activated his own omni-tool and the mass effect field went down, allowing Anderson to walk in and speak with the man. If what Caitlin said was true, the only way for him to get some level of answers was to be totally professional with the man.

"I am Captain David Anderson of the Systems Alliance Navy, name and rank soldier."

John then replied.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the United Nations Space Command."

"I see, while I have heard your announcement of your name already….Chief, I prefer to hear it in person. There's no way that you were lying in any fashion now that I have heard you speak. I will have to thank you for finding and rescuing Commander Monroe and her fellow Marines from the slavers, but I have to get down to the brass tacks as it were, there are a lot of questions surrounding you so they have to be answered."

John knew what that meant and nodded.

"Very well sir, but I am still under oath not to reveal anything deemed classified."

(Military man through and through, and judging by what I've learned by far, interrogating him might not be the best choice of action.)

'All right, first off, are you actually human?"

"Yes sir, though it's best to say that I am augmented, if you want more details, I believe that the medical scans done to me by C-Sec would answer some of your questions."

"I suppose it would for now at least. Now then, where are you from?"

John thought it over and replied.

"It's a little hard to explain sir, you might not even believe it."

Anderson replied to that with a slight smirk.

"After seeing your ship appear out of nowhere without using a Mass Relay as well as being armed with technology that is unknown to everyone here in the station, I'm willing to take a chance on the matter."

John decided that he could at least answer some of the questions so he decided to give an account of the UNSC, at least the data which was naturally official and not being deemed as classified information. He naturally told the Captain about the dimension he came from and a brief history of the UNSC, namely it's founding and eventually the creation of the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive and the colonization efforts made by the UNSC that founded the Inner and Outer Colonies that numbered at least eight hundred worlds.

He also talked of the Insurrection movement and how the UNSC fought the Insurrectionists for some time until the arrival of the Covenant. When asked by Anderson to specify what the Covenant was, he did so, though he shortened it as talking about it in length was time consuming. He talked about the first contact in Harvest with the said collection of alien races and the subsequent war that lasted nearly three decades, which saw Humanity being hunted down and destroyed left and right and worlds being glassed. He also explained the term Glassing and that brought back memories of the worlds he had seen with his own eyes that were burned by the Covenant. He then spoke of the Fall of Reach as well, avoiding details that were beyond classified to give and how the Halo Rings were found, giving e brief history of the Forerunners and how Humanity and the Covenant played into all of it, including the war and the encounters with the Flood itself …all the way to the Battle of Earth, to the Covenant Civil War, and finally into the Ark and how he got here…though he did avoid mentioning the legendary world of the Forerunner where he landed, he only replied that he had been able to spend enough time to get a ship built with the aid of some machines to make the Dawn.

Anderson was pretty much stunned by what he heard, though he hardly showed it, had anyone else told him this stuff, he would have called the person borderline insane and had him or her shipped off to the nearest psychiatric ward or to the mental institute for evaluation. But the way the Spartan spoke it and the fact that he seemed to know more than he was letting on told him that this was not a pile of bull-crap being shoved into his ears. And being a former Special Forces soldier himself, he had received training on figuring out if the person was lying.

The man before him was not lying in the very least, as soon as the Spartan was done, he spoke next.

"So let me see if I got this right…you're from another dimension where humanity has colonized a large number of worlds, eventually got caught in a civil war with insurrectionist movements in those said colonies. Then one colony goes dark and eventually you're dimension's Humanity is under siege by a collection of alien races who's leaders wanted your race wiped out because of them wanting the truth of Humanity's…inheritance to their Gods to be lost to hold on to their power for thirty years and then you were forced to fight a parasitic race that wanted to consume all life?"

John nodded and replied.

"That's correct sir…I take it you don't believe me?"

The Captain replied with a shake of his head.

"Let me put it this way…if you have not only rescued the Alliance's Marines, but appeared the way you did in that ship, and wielding the technology you had on you, I would have considered you insane and had you shipped off to the nearest psych ward for treatment."

John nodded.

"That makes two of us then Captain Anderson, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of being here in the first place."

"We're in agreement then on that aspect, so my next question is what are you going to do now Chief? Considering what I have learned from you, you're a very unique case to say the least."

"Honestly Captain, I have no idea, I still have to follow the UNSC doctrine and defend humanity from all threats against it, both inside and outside. I am a Spartan and my duty is to protect Humanity after all, even if by right the UNSC does not exist here at all."

Anderson thought it over and asked another question.

"Before we get to that, what exactly is a Spartan?"

John was a bit uncomfortable at that, talking about the Spartan II Program reminded him of his brothers and sisters who were lost and their status unknown as well as those killed in action. Even though ONI had made the Spartan II Program public for morale purposes during the war, it was not exactly common knowledge for anyone to get their hands on and some secrets of the Program were still guarded zealously by not just him but by the others who were involved with it. However, he knew that when the medical results came in, they were going to find out about the augmentations so there was little to be gained in hiding it.

John began to talk about how the Program started as a response to fighting the Insurrectionist movement when it became too costly in terms of military and civilian lives as well as ships, resources, and more. The Spartan Program was made to create a corps of specially trained soldiers who would be able to cut down insurrection cells before they could grow stronger. This would prevent them from becoming too dangerous to engage using regular methods, the soldiers would then be enhanced biologically and mechanically to be the best of the best for their various combat operations.

He then explained how he was taken from his home as a young child and replaced with a Flash Clone copy of himself due to him having the required genetic traits and having superior physical abilities as well. John then told Anderson about those like him who were taken in the same fashion and raised by the military in all military values, an understanding of how to wage war in all forms, use of weapons and tactics…everything needed to mold them into soldiers. He spoke of Mendez who trained him and Dr. Halsey who helped them adjust to their new lives and how despite the harshness of the life and training, he and the other Spartans came to see the two as mother and father figures respectively.

He also mentioned the augmentations that no doubt were going to be revealed anyway and how it had given them abilities beyond the norm at the age of fourteen and the loss of those who died in the process. The synergy results of the augmentations made them the best of what they were meant to do and how they had briefly fought the Insurrectionists after recovering and brought back to duty after seeing to the funeral detail of their comrades who died.

And eventually their battles with the Covenant when they appeared and their use of the MJOLNIR which was meant for them from the beginning and how he and his fellow Spartans fought for nearly thirty years with the Covenant, earning the title of Demon as well.

Anderson couldn't help but frown darkly at the story of what a Spartan was, to take children from their families, replace them with clones, turn them into soldiers and guinea pigs for highly risky procedures that killed or crippled them. He however noted that the Chief didn't seem to be bothered too much by that and he spoke about that.

"You don't seem to be bothered by all that, the actions of those people in the Spartan Program is unethical and heinous as well."

"I don't contest that…but it was in a desperate time, and when the Covenant came…we were the ones who helped save as many as we could. I don't regret my life as a Spartan Captain Anderson, I have accepted and embraced it, so I have little reason to complain at all."

Anderson saw that the Spartan meant it and sighed.

"All right then, I guess that answers most of my questions, though how you're going to explain all that to the Council is going to be interesting to say the least. Just about every augmentation you have goes against every law they have around here you know."

John shrugged and it was then that Executor Pallin moved in and spoke.

"I hate to break this up but the Council had just sent word, they want to speak to Ambassador Udina concerning what to do with your guest here. I've been given permission to allow him to wear his armor but not his weapons when he meets the Council in the meeting area, I also have to inform you that Ambassador Udina is already on his way to meet you at the Presidium Tower."

Anderson nodded and spoke to the Spartan.

"Time to face the music as it were Chief."

…

John shrugged and left the room, but made a beeline to where his Armor was and Anderson as well as the guards followed. It was not long before they arrived at the area where several scientists were talking about the weapons that the Spartan had given to them as per Citadel policy as well as his MJOLNIR Mark X Armor. The scientists were a pair of Salarians, a human and three Asari with the human looking at the MA6 Gauss Assault Rifle with keen interest.

"This weapon might have limits on ammunition, but the fact that it works without using Prothean technology in any form, not use e-zero and is able to actually cool itself is incredible."

The Salarians were however interested in the MJOLNIR itself despite the fact that they and their Asari companions were having a heck of a time trying to access the armor. The Spartan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the scientists were trying to access the Mark X with their omni-tools as one Asari spoke out as she faced her colleagues.

"The alloy on this suit does not correspond to anything we have on our database concerning all known Combat Hardsuit construction materials, it's denser and stronger as well. How in the name of the Goddess did this time come to be?"

Another spoke as well as she had been scanning the MJOLNIR's power supply area as best she could..

"I have a feeling this is the proverbial tip of the iceberg as some humans would phrase it, the suit seems to be using some sort of portable power source that has no e-zero in it. Instead it's actually using a…hybrid power system that uses fusion technology and plasma, something that is shocking to say the least, this is the kind of power supply you would expect to find in starships…not a personnel armor system. Such a power system is extremely difficult to attempt in many ways…how it was achieved without any Prothean influence is astounding."

The last Asari scientist was also busy trying to figure out the energy shield projectors and she spoke out as well.

"The Kinetic barriers….if it even has such things on this thing is of a model make that I have no idea about, they are stronger and tougher as well…I don't even know where to begin…"

The three continued to study the suit in detail while the Salarians were busy trying to figure out even more from the Mark X by attaching probes on some parts of the armor, no doubt in an attempt to try and activate it. John however was getting a bit impatient, and he wanted his armor back. With that in mind, he moved in and spoke seriously to the scientists who were still looking at his armor.

"I'm here to take that back."

The scientists who were under the employ of C-Sec turned and saw him, they saw the look he gave them and were about to complain that they had barely scratched the surface when Pallin spoke out.

"You heard the man, give him his Armor back."

The scientists moved away reluctantly, no doubt wanting more time to study this unknown suit technology. John paid them no notice as he moved to check the armor, and to the shock of the people there, namely those Asari who had lifted the suit in the first place, the Spartan easily began to suit up once more. He started by wearing the inner suit first and began to lock in the armor components bit by bit until he was fully suited and took the helmet. Once he did so, John powered up the systems and did a full scan and was greeted by Cortana herself who smiled a great deal to see that her Spartan had finally come back for her.

"Good to see you again Chief."

"Same to you, you weren't compromised or anything?"

Cortana laughed a bit and replied.

"That's nice, don't worry, I'm all right, I take it that we're off somewhere important?"

"Yes, we're meeting the Council now."

"Good, try to be at your best behavior all right big guy."

"I can say the same for you."

"Touché."

John turned as he spoke to Captain Anderson and Executor Pallin.

"I'm ready to go."

Anderson nodded and Pallin replied.

"Good to know, but you're not going to the Council without some of my men keeping an eye on you."

With that the Turian leader of C-Sec made several actions on his own omni-tool and was no doubt assembling a security detail to accompany the Spartan and keep him from doing something drastic. It was not a bother for the Spartan as he understood the reasons behind it, and he decided to make it easier for the members of C-Sec since they were doing their job, and after reading the Codex relating to them, he was able to develop a sense of professional respect since a majority of them were part of the military forces before being part of C-Sec.

The assigned escort group arrived and were mostly Turians with two pairs of Asari and humans as well, one Turian who appeared to be the leader of the escort group came forward and spoke to Executor Pallin.

"We're here as you ordered Executor."

"Good, normally I would not ask you to go on an escort run Detective Garrus, but this is a very unique set of circumstances and our…guest isn't exactly a regular visitor."

The Turian turned and looked at the Spartan and nodded to his superior's comment.

"I can see why Executor, may I?"

Pallin nodded as Garrus moved over to the Spartan and the Turian spoke in a courteous manner.

"Greetings, my name is Garrus Vakarian, recently joining C-Sec, I understand you were the one who has the rest of the officers talking recently."

The Spartan didn't know why but he found this Turian to be a good sort, not enough to trust him of course, but enough to respect him.

"You guessed right, you already know who I am Detective Vakarian?"

"Not exactly sir, but I do know that you are in the military, judging by the gear you happen to have on with you."

"You can call me Chief if you want."

"All right…Chief, are you ready?"

…

In the Council Tower…

John stood in full military fashion as he looked at the Turian, Salarian, and Asari Councilors as he managed to understand that in the Citadel, these three represented the three chief races of the Citadel itself. He knew that there was a lot of tension concerning his arrival which probably had caught just about everyone off guard. Behind him was Captain Anderson and the man who he guessed was Ambassador Udina.

His C-Sec escorts were currently there as well to keep an eye on the Spartan with their hands near their weapons. John was not bothered all that much as he was still able to fight even though his weapons were still on lock down in C-Sec head quarters. He placed that out of his mind for the time being and directed his attention to the three figures before him while his military mind was already determining just what he could use if he got into a firefight.

Cortana chided him and spoke.

"Stop that Chief, you realize that we're not here for a fight."

"You'll never know Cortana."

"All right, but pay attention, looks like the head honchos of this place are about to have a word with you."

Sure enough, the one to speak was the Asari Councilor, bringing the place to order as other people in the tower were soon paying attention to the proceedings, as well as trying to see just who was before the Council.

"This meeting has been called for concerning the recent arrival of an unknown ship in Citadel space and it's apparent owner, who is here before the Council, one Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117."

The Asari then spoke to the Master Chief.

"Now…Spartan, do you mind if we refer to you by that title?"

"I do not mind Councilor."

The Asari nodded and began to speak once more.

"We had time to speak to Shanni about your efforts to rescue a number of Alliance Marines, herself and a number of Asari from the hands of a rogue Batarian slavery ring. For your efforts to rescue them all, you have our thanks. However, there is the matter of your origin and your purpose for being here in the first place."

The Turian Councilor then spoke out to the Spartan and the master Chief could tell that the Turian's questions were not going to be very welcoming to say the very least.

"First off, what race do you happen to be part of?"

"Human, I am part of the human race."

"Really? The armor you have does not match any officially recognized Alliance production model of Combat Armor, and your weapons don't exactly conform to the models used as standard issue in the Alliance as well. And there is the matter of that ship of yours, the fact that it was able to enter Citadel space without using a Mass Relay, something that is possible with the use of an FTL Drive but not without time passing in the amounts of decades or centuries. Care to elaborate on these things, or is this actually some sort of project that the Alliance had been keeping under wraps for years?"

Anderson stopped forward that that point and spoke.

"Councilors, the Alliance has no part in any of the events that occurred only hours before, let alone have any ship such as that the Spartan happens to command on our records."

The Turian looked at Anderson with a slightly disbelieving look, one that did not escape the attention of the Spartan, he had managed to locate the file concerning the Battle of Shanxi which was still referred to as the Relay 314 Incident by the Turians. He could guess that such an incident would leave a bad taste in the mouth of both Turians and Humans, reminding him of the events that started the UNSC Covenant War.

The Turian's reply further cemented that fact when he spoke out.

"Then tell me why our medical analysis of the man here showed that he has been heavily augmented, in ways that goes against just about every protocol concerning genetic modification in the Citadel? This human was turned into a super weapon and the studies showed that this was done to him when he was a child no less. Tell me, since when does the Alliance sanction the use of children as living test subjects and making them into super weapons?"

Udina was wide eyed as he realized the ramifications of this despite the fact that the human before them was not even part of the Alliance. This was going to cause damage to the image of the Alliance unless something was done quickly, that happened when Anderson spoke.

"I recently had the opportunity to speak to the Chief and he has confirmed what your doctors had found out about him, however, I believe that it would be best that if you want answers, then you should ask the Chief himself."

The Salarian Councilor nodded in agreement as well.

"That is a wise course of action, given that Citadel intelligence forces have not found any record of the existence of the Dawn in the database. This does lend credence to the fact that the Alliance may not have any part of this as the ship by all appearances does not match the designs normally used on Alliance vessels."

The three then directed their full attention on the Spartan himself who was still very calm about the whole situation before him and it was not long before the Asari Councilor spoke to the Spartan in the fashion that showed the role the Asari of being mediators and councilors in the Citadel.

"Very well then, if the Alliance has no part in this, then I believe that we should speak to the person in question himself. Do you mind telling us exactly who you are and where you come from Spartan?"

John sighed a bit and decided to tell them what he had already told Captain Anderson, let them decide what to make of the information he was going to give them.

…

As the Spartan was finished with telling what he had told Anderson about where he came from and everything else…with the exception of the Spartan II Program since they were not asking just yet, he waited as the Councilors of the three major races in the Citadel deliberated the matter before them. Though he could bet that what he had told them was going to be a lot for them to swallow as he saw that the Turian Councilor was looking at him with was would amount of an incredulous look in Turian terms as it were.

He ignored that but kept an eye trained on the people around him and focused his audio sensors on the conversations that were flying all over the place.

"He's from an alternate dimension?"

"That sounds like something out of a movie vid…"

"That's got to be a trick…"

"There's no such thing…"

"But what about the gear he has?"

"Could be another Alliance trick to curry favor with the Council…"

"What about this Covenant? Or even the Flood?"

"Could be just ramblings or something…"

The list of conversations could go on and on, all of which John dutifully recorded while Cortana was amusing herself with reading the Codex files that they had in order to get a feel for the other races and also find something that would be useful for the two of them to use on the off chance that they were forced into a corner, so far the Codex files only dealt with C-Sec, the Citadel, the Asari, Turians, and Salarians, namely in areas of biology, culture, and religion, there were still some areas that needed some level of work so they would have to play it cool for now.

After a while, the three Councilors faced the Spartan and the Turian Councilor looked hard at the Spartan and spoke out.

"Do you expect us to believe that you come from another dimension with such a history as you describe? That's impossible."

It was then that the Salarian Councilor spoke.

"Not entirely, there have always been theories on the possibility of alternate realities and universes were history can diverge and chance change completely from what we perceive as history. The fact that he is here as well as the technology and that ship of his is proof at least that the idea of an alternate dimension is a viable possibility."

'I happen to find the idea of such a device as a Slipspace engine interesting as well as the physics that go into it as well. The idea of infantry and vehicle mounted weapons that are directed energy weapons happen to be quite interesting as well. Though this Flood and the Covenant are somewhat a concern due to what he has told us about them."

The Turian snorted a bit and replied.

"It could be merely deception so far."

It was then that the Asari Councilor spoke as well.

"I do have one concern, when we interviewed Shanni about what she had learned, she mentioned to us the presence of what seems to be an A.I on your ship. This is a concern for us here on the Citadel as there are standing rules against the creation of A.I that have the potential to become deadly threats. The creation of the Geth by the former Council race, the Quarians is a sore point here in the Council and having an A.I, even if it is from another universe entirely is not something that is easily dealt with."

John shrugged a bit and replied.

"If you want to know more about the said A.I, perhaps you can talk to her."

This caught the Council by surprise and John merely moved one hand forward and then a large halo of light appeared and Cortana appeared from John's hand and she smiled warmly at the assembled audience of various species and spoke while still on John's hand.

"Greetings, I am UNSC Smart A.I Serial Number CTN-0452-9, or if you prefer, Cortana. I'm the A.I your fellow Asari encountered Councilor.

John shook his head at that and sighed mentally as well, but with that out of the bag, then it was

The groups of people in the Citadel Tower along with the three Councilors were naturally surprised as the A.I that was mentioned appeared before them, but it was unlike any A.I they knew of, it looked very much human. The Turian Councilor pointed a talon at Cortana with a Turian equivalent of a shocked and dismayed expression and spoke.

"You brought that A.I into this chamber…have you lost your mind?"

Cortana turned and glared at the Turian Councilor and replied while leaping off the hand of the Spartan, and to the shock of the people there in the chamber, become human sized as well, she moved to John's side and replied.

"Do not think for a minute I'm just a regular A.I, I have a name and it is Cortana so use it."

The members of the audience were surprised by the sight of Cortana's now human sized avatar and even some of the human males who were there were raising eyebrows at the fact that despite the numbers and code lines moving on the 'body' of the A.I, it was by all rights naked. Whoever invented this A.I had a rather interesting way to improve morale.

The Salarian Councilor looked intently at Cortana and then spoke.

"Interesting…this A.I does not seem to be the same as V.I being able to move around without the aid of a holo-pad."

Cortana looked at the Salarian and spoke once more seriously.

"I have a name, and it is Cortana, keep that in mind."

The members of C-Sec looked at the A.I with some level of surprise and Garrus himself commented on that.

"Now there is something you don't see every day."

Cortana was hardly done as she spoke to the Councilors seriously and made sure that she returned to her normal size for the moment and was now in the palm of John's hand.

"If you want to know if the information that the Chief has given you is authentic, then why not try to confirm it? I have no doubt that if you send an Asari here to use that melding your race are known for, you can see the memories of the Chief and that should confirm everything that he said was true."

The Asari was surprised at this but quickly guessed that it might have been when Shanni had told the Spartan and his A.I companion about their respective race and she decided that the best way to do it was to ask one of their top agents here in the Citadel and as far as she knew, they had one of their best Asari Spectres with them here and now after taking care of several key assignments.

"Very well, we happen to have one of our best Spectre agents here who happens to be an Asari, she may be willing to see if what you have told us already is the truth."

…

The Asari Councilor typed in several commands in her console and soon enough she smiled slightly and replied that the Spectre was already on her way. The Spectre who arrived was an Asari with several distinct marking which were silvery white on her face. She seemed to walk with purpose and clarity. She was well armed and was equipped with a suit of lightweight but well constructed armor which was in black and red without a helmet as well. John studied the alien woman and could see that she was a veteran warrior and that meant that these Spectres must be high ranking in the Citadel.

Spectre Selena looked about as she wondered why was it that she had been called here by the Council on her break time of all things. She had recently helped deal with a conspiracy by a handful of Batarian extremists who had attempted to poison the food supplies of a human colony world that would have been quite the mess. She had been in the Spectres for over a hundred years at the age of 249 years. She was already reaching the supposed matron stage but she had no plans on settling down just yet as she still believed that maintaining a peaceful galaxy was her duty and she would have time to worry about having children at a later date.

She was wearing her trusted Colossus Armor that had been a gift to her by her human father who was a former Infiltrator who had retired from the service years before meeting her Asari mother. Her human father was long gone, but she learned much from him on how to use a Sniper Rifle as well as how to fight unconventionally. That coupled with her mother's tutoring in Biotics made her a highly skilled Asari Commando. The good life she had with her human father also gave her an appreciation for humanity which was why she had a fascination with humanity's technology and usually took good care of her late father's Colossus Armor as well as her own personally bought Harpoon Sniper Rifle.

As she walked over, she noted the presence of both Captain David Anderson and Ambassador Udina, seeing these two human men told her that this was involving the Alliance once more and that was what made her curious. However she directed her attention to the figure who was there in front of the Council.

She had no idea who this was and the armor this being had on was unlike anything she knew of in her long years, this was not human made armor yet it seemed to be made by some human influence. As she approached the meeting area for the Council, the armored being turned and she saw him wearing a full helmet with a golden visor as well. She tried to figure out just who or what this figure was but decided that this might be the very reason she had been called out of her usual break time to catch up with her mother. She arrived at the front of the Council and spoke.

"Spectre Selena reporting as you ordered Councilors; may I ask what seems to be the problem?"

The Councilors filled her in on what had been happening here while the Spartan busied himself by accessing the files that he and Cortana had on the Asari melding process on how it worked. John had wondered what the reason was for Cortana to suggest that an Asari meld with him. He read the file and was a bit worried about what would happen if the Asari began to read his memories, memories that he preferred to keep to himself.

Cortana however assured him that as long as he was able to resist most of her actions without compromising his well being and mental state to keep the memories he deemed to important to be revealed that easily. The Spartan had some level of doubt in his ability to resist an alien's inherent trait to read memories but that was not going to stop him from doing his best either.

As soon as that was over, the Spartan brought himself out of the conversation between him and Cortana to see that the Councilors had already finished their discussion concerning him to the Asari Spectre, and now the alien woman was directing her attention to him.

Selena looked at the Spartan still trying to digest the fact that the Council had just told her about this man. She was trying to see if there actually was a human underneath all the armor there. But he real concern was the fact that it had been some time since she had actually melded with anyone at all in her long carrier as a Commando and all the way to being a Spectre.

There were hardly any regulations in the Citadel forbidding Spectres to have relationships or flings those of other gender, and being an Asari was also something that added to that. However, it had been some time before she had done any melding so she was not sure if that was a good idea as she had no intentions of being a mother just yet with so much left to do. However, the Council needed information to confirm the story of this Spartan before them and she was the one that they entrusted to get it. So she was going to do it, but she hoped that the Spartan was actually willing to let someone like her read his mind as she had no idea just how he would react to it.

She turned to the Council and spoke to them.

"I will try to do as you ask, however, it would be best if I gain his consent on the matter to make sure that there will be no damage done to his mind."

The Asari Councilor nodded to that as being an Asari, she knew that it had to be done carefully in order to avoid damaging the psyche of the recipient. The Turian nodded curtly while the Salarian seemed to be silent on the matter. Selena then turned to the Spartan and spoke to him as well.

"Are you willing to do this…Spartan?"

John responded by removing his helmet and allowing Selena to see his face and he gave her a nod on his head and spoke seriously.

"Let's get this over and done with."

Selena nodded and she moved closer and began the process in which her people were able to meld with another species. As soon as she was close enough to the Spartan and she felt that she was ready, she began the process.

"Try to relax Spartan, let the universe flow around you…embrace eternity!"

…

In that moment Selena was in the Spartan's mind, and in that moment she began to see images, many images that were quickly becoming clear to her. She saw the UNSC come into existence, the development of the Slipspace Drive, the colonization of the planets that would become the worlds Humanity would inhabit. She saw no sign of anything that she knew of as an Asari, none of her race was encountered by Humanity, there was no discovery of either Prothean ruins or that of e-zero, in place of those were the Forerunner facilities and samples of technology left behind.

She saw the Insurrection take place and how the UNSC responded in the past, and how the Spartan II Program came to be though John had blocked most of the details out and she didn't force the issue just yet. She saw the images of Harvest as it was once in the briefing and what happened after the Covenant made their appearance. The sight of the MJOLNIR being shown to the Spartans was also seen as well as the death of one of the Spartans who had been under this one's command.

She witnessed the entire war between the UNSC and the Covenant with all the species tha made up it's ranks, every major battle both on the ground and in space that had happened between the two factions. She watched as the Covenant had won major space battles due to having superior technology and numbers on their side while the UNSC was fighting a losing war though she saw some of their own victories but those came with a high price. The sights of worlds being glassed and many lives, both civilian and military were lost in the relentless battles filled her mind and she sensed no lie or deception in such memories.

She watched the battle of Reach and felt how this world's loss had been a brutal blow to not just the UNSC, but the Spartan and his own group as well, she saw the first Halo Ring and she couldn't help but be awed by the size of such a device. She saw the battle in the Autumn, all the way to the many battles fought on the surface of the ring between the UNSC and the Covenant, until the arrival of the Flood which were freed unintentionally by the humans.

She saw the Flood attack both sides and the horror of what these things could do filled her mind as she saw the images of the things they did to bodies, living and dead. She watched through the eyes of the Spartan what they did that led to the destruction of the ring, all the way through his recovery of survivors and also on his return to Reach to save anyone else there. The counter operation that they attempted that led to the destruction of so many enemy forces and their return to Earth.

Selena saw the Battle over Earth itself and how the Spartan and many others moved to the Battle in a new Halo Ring after chasing the Prophet, the meeting with both the Arbiter and the Gravemind, she could hear it's thoughts and words through the Spartan as it spoke, being recognized as the leader of the Flood itself. She witnessed the battle of High Charity as the Flood attacked it in the middle of the Civil war that erupted between the Elites and the Brutes.

The second Battle over Earth began as she witnessed the Spartan leaving the ship and landing in Africa, she witnessed the battles that followed and the alliance between the Covenant Separatists and the UNSC against the Loyalists and then the Flood. She witnessed the end of the war when they arrived in the Ark and fought the Covenant and killed Truth, and finally firing the replacement Halo Ring to end the Flood threat once and for all at the cost of Avery Johnson.

Selena broke the connection between her and the Spartan and took a deep breath to relax herself after dealing with the images that she had seen. She looked at the Spartan who seemed to be rather calm and focused as he looked back at her. She was surprised when he spoke to her all of a sudden.

"You all right?"

"Yes, I am fine…"

As soon as she gathered her wits, she reported to the Council that she had confirmed everything, what he had told the Council about his origins was very much the truth and she confirmed that any Asari could see what she had seen and confirm it as the truth as well concerning the man's origins. The fact that this came from not just an Asari but a Spectre meant that there was no way that what the Spartan had told the Council was any attempt at hiding anything the Alliance had done covertly. This cleared the Alliance of any wrong doing that would have been directed at them by anyone in the Council who had an axe to grind with Humanity. This was received by the Councilors with different reactions in the three of them.

The Asari councilor was pleased in a sense that this situation had been resolved and she was already planning to find ways that this could benefit the Council and the universe as a whole. The Salarian Councilor was still keen to see if there were ways that they could get some idea of just how the technology of the UNSC, Forerunner, and Covenant functioned and see if the Citadel could be able to use the technology wisely. As for the Turian Councilor, he was not entirely pleased with the results but he was also thinking about what could be learned from the ship and the weapons that the man had as well any other things that he might have.

The members of the audience in the Tower were also trying to get used to what they had heard and looked at the Spartan who was still calm and focused as he placed back on his helmet. The Councilors were soon deep in discussion about what they had learned and what they should do now concerning the Spartan himself as well as the technology that he had under his command.

They were not the only ones who were thinking about the implications as Captain Anderson was now in a deep discussion with Ambassador Udina on what they should do concerning the Spartan. Udina was trying to figure out what they would gain if the Spartan chose to join the Alliance. If such technology was in the hands of Humanity, then it would be a boon that they could not afford to ignore.

Anderson however advised caution on the matter as he reminded Udina that despite the Spartan being human, he was still bound by the rules of his own organization. And while the UNSC did not exist in this…reality, the Spartan was a consummate military man and was not going to side with anyone right off the bat. And besides, they had no idea just what he was going to do so they should at least give him time to adjust to the world he happens to be in.

They were not the only ones in the audience however who had had plans concerning the Spartan as well as the technology that he had with him, but these people in question were not part of any official group.

John and Cortana waited until the Councilors turned their attention to the Spartan with the Salarian Councilor being the one to speak first.

"It seems that your information is indeed authentic and it is something that we will have to deliberate on for a time, for now you are to remain here within the Citadel limits until a more thorough decision is made regarding your…status."

John decided to test the waters a bit and replied.

"What exactly is our status here in the Citadel to begin with Councilor?"

The Turian scowled a bit but the Asari replied.

"You and your….companion as it were are not prisoners here in the Citadel, we are merely taking precautions with your presence. The facts that you have presented to us are not exactly something that we have much experience in dealing with. In light of that fact, having you and your companion leave is not advisable as there are other elements or groups that, if they find out about you, may take an interest in getting a chance to take you for their own reasons."

John decided to try something he normally would not do, but no sense not doing it to see the reaction.

"They are most certainly welcome to try."

The underlying meaning of that was not lost to the people there and the Turian Councilor replied sourly.

"You will NOT start a small war here in the Citadel, is that clear?"

John replied firmly.

"I assure you, I have no intention of starting one, but if I am attacked by anyone…I have a feeling there might not be enough left for C-Sec to identify, I will not start a war, but I will most certainly stop it any way I can if I am the one attacked."

This was not welcomed by the Turian but the Asari Councilor then spoke seriously to the Spartan.

"I understand your concerns, but that is our stand on this matter until we make a more permanent decision regarding your stay here in the Citadel. You may defend yourself if you are attacked by a credible threat, but understand that until a decision is reached concerning your status here on the Citadel, you are not to engage in any hostile action against others unless they are the ones who strike first. I believe this is present in the UNSC's Rules of Engagement?"

"That it is Councilor, I will abide by the rules of the Citadel and will do what I can to keep out of trouble."

The Turian snorted silently and spoke to himself while keeping his voice low, unaware of the fact that the Spartan's Mark X had highly advanced audio scanners and the Spartan was recording the words he spoke.

"That I have to see."

John then spoke out as he looked at the Turian.

"And if you want visual evidence, I can provide it as well Councilor, which should assure you that if anything happens, then I had my reasons."

Before the Turian could reply and find out just what the Spartan meant by that statement, the Asari Councilor spoke out.

"Very well then, you have permission to tour around the Citadel, though you will be watched by C-Sec in your stay, you may also go to the Alliance Embassy if you wish to do so, if that is all then this meeting is adjourned."

John nodded and took his leave while being accompanied by Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina as the two men decided to make the most of this situation, and for different reasons.

…

Garrus couldn't help but smirk a bit at that and replied to himself.

"The Chief's got guts, maybe this will not be a boring assignment after all."

Unfortunately, Executor Pallin was nearby and replied.

"Don't even think about it Garrus Vakarian."

"I won't sir."

"I hope not."

…

As the Spartan moved out, a figure watched him leave with both Anderson and Udina and as soon as the three left, the person spoke to what apparently was a communication device hidden away.

"This is Shadow-01, subject has left the Tower, repeat subject has left the tower."

"Understood, shadow the subject and gather intel on subject only, if there is an opening to secure subject, then it must be attempted only if all variables are considered and dealt with."

"Understood, Shadow Team 001 will maintain surveillance and will make the move if a viable opportunity presents itself."

"Understood, subject must be brought alive if capture is possible, exercise extreme caution."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well that wraps up this one for the time being, and while I know that most would never expect this to be updated, I have to burn out some of the material in my head to get back to working on my other projects. Anyways, it seems that the Spartan is going to be in the Citadel for the time being and you can bet that he will be involved in some things soon enough.

Yes, he meets Garrus first and we now meet the OC Asari Spectre who might become John's watchdog from the Council and who might develop an interest in the Spartan. Selena is no young girl in any sense as she is a veteran Asari Commando and also happens to have undergone Infiltrator training so she has some skills in tech as well as her race's natural use of Biotics. She is a young Spectre but is respected by those who work with her and she has some level of disagreement with the views of others towards humans, namely due to her father being a human.

John will be busy but you can bet that while he is there, some organizations might show some level of interest in getting their hands on his technology…wager a few guesses on just who the said organizations are. And you can bet that some of the Batarians will be very interested in fighting the Spartan.

Guess who is looking at the Chief this time…

If you want to know the time line on which the Chief shows up, it's two years before the Skyllian Blitz and as such, the events of ME have not came to be just yet so expect things to be a bit different this time around. John will have seven years to work with before the events of the game of Mass Effect happens.

This will naturally allow John and Cortana to know more of the ME universe, and do many things before they fight alongside Shepard and company, but John will have his own team in doing so. They won't be the same as the fabled Spartan II Blue Team that John led all his life, but they will have a number of skills that will be valuable in the long run and will become a very capable fighting force in the future.

And here's a clue…two of the mentioned characters will play keys role in forming this crew, who are they?

Find out soon…

…

See you soon!


	3. There's no place like home

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Mass effect, but I have played both…

Chapter 2

There's no place like home…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Citadel…

John looked the place over once more and kept his eyes open for any possible threat on his person. It was habit, but a habit that saved his life more than once, looking at the Citadel, he had to admit that it was rather cozy and well made on the inside as well. Plenty of room for a large number of alien species and there were a lot of things in the Citadel that he had to look to believe. There were two things that got his attention in the middle of area at the base of the tower, and those things happened to be two large figures.

One was of what he now saw as a Mass Relay of sorts, but apparently smaller as well and seemed to be dormant though the Spartan was not going to look at it and judge only at face value. He directed his attention to another statue that depicted a large alien figure armed with what he guessed was an assault Rifle. The being was unknown to him but it was a large fire, easily the same height as he was in full MJOLNIR armor. He decided to ask either Anderson or Udina about these facts at a later date, for now, he had to play ball with the two men.

As soon as he arrived in the Alliance Embassy, the Spartan looked about and Anderson spoke to him with a tone of respect one soldier gave to another of equal rank and position, even though he technically outranked the man.

"Care to have a seat Chief?"

"No sir, I happen weigh a full ton in this armor, I doubt any chair here in the embassy is made to carry a Spartan."

"You could take it off you."

"No thank you sir."

Udina then spoke.

"Care to explain why you wear the Armor then? Even though you are a soldier, there is no reason for you to keep wearing it."

"I prefer to have it on Ambassador, thirty years of combat kind of drills that if it keeps you safe, keep it close."

Anderson thought about that and replied.

"All right then, which just leaves us to discuss your current situation with Humanity and in turn the Alliance here in this…reality. You see, even if you are not a member of the Alliance and no doubt not related to anyone in Humanity…considering your origins, you are still human and as much as most naysayers in some groups in Earth's political parties, Humanity is going to need all the allies it can get."

"You want me to join the Alliance I take it?"

Udina then spoke.

"Having you on our side is going to give the Alliance a great deal of leverage, in terms of military power, technological research, and experience. No doubt your thirty years of experience in combat will prove an invaluable aid to many of the soldiers we have and the ones being brought in. As for the ship, the weapons and the like…well, I don't think we need to explain the advantages that will come with your joining of the Alliance. "

It was then that Anderson spoke.

"However, it would be best that you are willing to join us, considering your firepower, tech, and abilities, including what you told me when we first met, forcing you into something without an agreement is going to be a problem. You are a unique case Chief and it's better in my opinion that you do this willingly."

John then moved his hand and out came Cortana and she moved off her guardian's hand and took her more human sized avatar and she looked at both men and spoke seriously.

"You two realize that if you bring the Chief and I into the Alliance, you can bet that elements in the Council are going to go ape over the whole decision. There is nothing that will prevent the Citadel's collective leadership from going into a fit and they will not take it well. The technology we have could indeed give the Alliance a serious advantage in many ways, but it would also place a greater deal of scrutiny and the Citadel will clamp down hard on the Alliance in retaliation. And if all three races decide to gang up on the Alliance, things will get nasty very quickly."

"The Asari happen to have a vast network of contacts and more with various corporations and trading groups. If they make a move like have a trade embargo on the Alliance, then we are talking about a massive economic blow that the Alliance may not recover from, and there is no telling the results if they use their political muscle as well. As for the Turians and the Salarians, they have a serious advantage in their own respective fields. I can leave the calculations up to you, but accepting us into the Alliance comes with considerable risks as well as the considerable advantages you just mentioned. And all that you have accomplished so far before we ever came to the Citadel will be thrown out the window, and I have no doubt that no one wants that."

Udina and Anderson were silent and both were deep in thought about what the A.I is telling them. There was truth in her words but they both knew that having the Citadel get their hands on the Chief and the technology he had was going to be a serious situation as well. They then sighed a bit and Udina spoke.

"All right then…we will have to take time to think all of this over, we will have to make contact with the rest of Alliance High Command and also with those people who might be vital in talking about your current situation."

Anderson then spoke to the Spartan.

"In the meantime, you can move around in the Presidium and also to the wards, no doubt C-Sec will be watching you so there is some level of security for you here."

John nodded and decided to ask Anderson about what he had seen and the captain told him about both the Relay Monument as well as the Statue of the Krogan. The Alliance captain then handed over a Codex file concerning the Krogan for John to take a very good look at and afterwards, the Spartan was allowed to move around the Presidium and Udina told him to be ready for anything that might happen. The Ambassador also mentioned that it would be best that he try not to do something that could be used as ammunition against him.

John agreed and headed off to the nearby room to see what he might find.

…

As soon as he entered the room next to the Human Embassy, the Spartan was greeted by the sight of a massive four legged being that seemed to be busy with a number of things as well as another one of the new races, though in this case, this one seemed to wear something similar to a re-breather device and from what he could see, also wore a life support suit. This told him that this short one must belong to a race that was not able to survive in some of the conditions found here in the Citadel. The other being must come from a species that was quite comfortable in a high gravity environment, as he was aware that high gravity environments tend to have species that were massive, according to his studies in science back on Reach.

The shorter alien turned at the Spartan's direction and snorted in a slightly rasping fashion, but there was no mistaking the tone of someone who had an axe to grind. And apparently that axe was directed at the Spartan.

"Well….look at this, the new pet of the Council had the time to grace us with his presence, is there something that we can do for you human, or are you just here to grace us with your presence and rub in the fact that you're race is getting more graces from the Council?"

Cortana raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"We barely know this one and now he's acting like he's got the whole Covenant Fleet up his backside and blames you for it."

John didn't reply to that as he himself had no idea what to make of this one until the more massive alien in the room spoke out in a flat and simple tone.

"Rebuke: Din! That is quite enough from you, this human is not an enemy here, and as you know, a guest here in the Citadel."

The massive alien then spoke to the Spartan as it turned slowly to face the armored human.

"Apology: I must apologize for the reception you have been given by my colleague Din, his negative sentiment towards the Humans of the Alliance in a way is understandable due to his people, the Volus' situation with the Council, but it should not have to be so strong to a relatively new visitor such as yourself human."

The Volus however snorted and replied.

'Why should you apologize for me anyway Calyn? I doubt that this human cares for the plight of the Volus since he is not from around here if one were to take into account his origins."

The Spartan was actually curious since he had no access to a Codex concerning the new races before him, along with the fact that with Cortana around, he might be able to get the data and learn more about this other race, and with that in mind, he turned his attention to the Volus and replied.

"Why don't you tell me about your race then?"

Din looked at the Spartan and despite facing the massive and powerful human super soldier, he replied with some disdain.

"Why are you so curious human?"

"I happen to be from somewhere else I have no knowledge of your race Ambassador, so I am actually curious about your race."

"Hmm…very well then."

Din began to tell the Spartan all he could about his people and culture, at least all that he was willing to divulge and the Spartan took in all that he could, with Cortana recording most of it. John was able to understand most of the Volus' various traits, namely the reasons for them using re-breathers and life support suits as well their own society in general. He also became aware of their client race status with the Turians and the fact that with their mercantile and finance skills, they were the ones who helped establish the economic rules and banking acts of the Citadel. This was natural due to their culture being focused on trade on every resource they had, even family members so it would make sense that they were the Citadel's finance and banking advisers, something he kept in mind.

He also realized that since they were physically incapable, that would mean that the Volus were not combat-capable and would rely on protection from other races, which no doubt would include Turians. This naturally would mean that they were seen as pacifists or cowards by other races, including Humanity, and as such, they would not be able to lend Fleets and soldiers to the Citadel….which could explain why they never got a seat in the Council despite their vast contributions to the Citadel in economic and financial terms. The Citadel needed not just funds, but soldiers, ships and more to hold and defend its territory as well as keep the peace and these areas were the ones the Volus could not deliver on, so they were not given the seat which he admitted was theirs already.

Cortana also understood that and spoke to the Spartan privately.

"I can see why the guy is so steamed up about the Council seemingly favoring the Alliance, they've been waiting for centuries and now he and no doubt a number of others like him think that the Alliance is fast becoming the favorite pet of the Council at the expense of his own race."

"I agree there."

As soon as that was done, din looked at the Spartan and replied.

"Now do you understand my race Human?"

The Spartan nodded and replied.

"I do, and I can understand why you seem hostile towards humans."

"And I suppose it annoys you then?"

John could tell that there was no doubt a sneer in there but ignored it as he replied.

"Not in the least, you have your opinions and I have mine."

"And what do YOU think of my race then? If you are truly not from this…galaxy, then what do you think of the Volus?"

"I think that your race will gain its own seat in time, your people may not have the seat you deserve, but you will get it soon enough."

Din snorted and replied.

"Humph…whatever you say Human, now that you've known everything that I am willing to say, leave me be."

The Spartan then turned his attention to the Elcor Ambassador and decided to ask this one about its own race as well. The Elcor Ambassador noted that and spoke to the Spartan as well.

"Question: Is there something I can help you with human?"

"I'd like to know about your race if you have the time Ambassador."

"Enthusiastic Reply: Of course Human, I have nothing pressing for me to do at this time, I will tell you want I can about my people."

The Spartan listened carefully with Cortana doing her own recording as well as they listened to Calyn talk about his people the Elcor. The Spartan and it A.I companion were quickly able to learn why the Elcor were a slow moving race in terms of their physical conditions due to the high gravity of their world. Due to their reliance on slight body movements, scent, and infra sound they try to make sure that their subtle actions are not misinterpreted by other races, which explains why they use emotional statement prefixes on their dialog to state their tones and in turn their feelings as it were.

Learning about their culture was very informative for the Spartan as well as their society and seeing that they were a long lived race, it would make sense that they would take time to plan out things in detail. That was something the Spartan had no trouble respecting as well as the fact that they were a lot more intelligent than they let others know about.

In terms of their military strength, they relied mostly on VI controlled war machines which use a number of programs based on centuries used gambits by Elcor strategists that made them very useful. The Elcor themselves may be slow and would make easy targets due to that and their size, but that was countered by their thick hides and the fact that they had very strong bodies, which would naturally include a very high tolerance to injury.

Those same physical features also meant that the Elcor could easily carry platforms of their body to carry heavy weapons that normally would only be seen on combat vehicles. In that regard, the Elcor reminded the Spartan and the A.I of the Hunters who were usually seen by their Covenant allies as walking tanks.

As soon as that was over, Calyn spoke to the Spartan.

"Anxious Question: I trust that I have answered your questions about my race to your satisfaction human?"

The Spartan nodded and bid the two farewell and left, but before hearing Din once more being chastised by Calyn for making a rude comment about the Spartan behind his back, with the Volus unaware the Spartan had heard him. Once the door closed, Cortana spoke to the Spartan with an amused tone in her voice.

"I got to admit one thing about the events of today, it's not boring to say the least, but I think that the way they view in general to be rather narrow. I'll admit the idea of rampant is a cause for concern, but not to the point of labeling all as Rampant."

"I suppose, how about you?"

"To be honest, I did become Rampant, but I am fine now and fully operational, so no need to worry about that. Besides, I'd rather delete myself than turn on you, and who else is capable enough to keep you out of trouble when I am not around anyway?"

John mentally chuckled at that and decided to move around the Citadel for now since he had nothing to deal with of importance. Besides, this would give him a fairly good idea of the layout of the Citadel, plus getting an idea of the various parts of it.

They soon stopped and then accessed what appeared to be a Smart A.I which was named Avina, however, John noted that the response options of the A.I seemed to be limited and it seemed not to have any other features. This meant that this was no doubt the Citadel council's version of a Dumb A.I. However, accessing it allowed Cortana to begin gathering more details that she was going to find more useful.

Since the Avina unit they accessed was connected to the Citadel's database Cortana was able to access all the files that she needed though she made sure to do her work in a way that didn't leave any electronic trails. Once they were done gathering the information that was going to be useful in the long run for them in the Citadel, the Spartan continued to explore the rest of the Station and made his way to the more active side of the Citadel, stopping in front of what appeared to be an elevator system.

As he rode down the tube, the Spartan began to look over the files and study them in detail, namely accessing the data pertaining to the three main races, the Turians, the Salarians, and the Asari, namely their military tactics and strategies. He had no doubt that there would be rogue members of their races and criminals so best to know their cultural preferences for combat so he would be ready to expect their methods and exploit possible weak points.

He also made it a point to see how the Alliance operated in defending it's colonial interests and people. He found them somewhat lacking and also flimsy, while there was some sense in their strategy, it was a serious flaw since it would render settlements vulnerable and that would no doubt have negative effects on the Alliance's image to fellow humans. The UNSC usually had the UNSC Army and Colonial Militia to handle colonial garrison duties on it's colonies and they had well made bases along with fully staffed and supplied Armor, Logistics, Medical, Air Support and more.

And with ODPs and the UNSC Navy on standby, the UNSC Colonies were by rights better defended than Alliance ones. This made him wonder just what the Alliance would do if their forces were spread too thin and they were not able defend vital colonies and locations that would be too important to lose to enemy occupation. He also was not very pleased with the lower numbers of the Alliance Marine Corps, seeing that despite it having a number of advantages, were severely weakened in being able to fight a prolonged battle in either defensive situations or offensive ones against a larger number of foes. And while he was familiar with Sun Tzu's maxim that the Alliance worked with, he also knew that if the Alliance reinforcements were always late, it was only going to be a matter of time before rebellion would spread in the Alliance colonies, just like it did in the UNSC during the Insurrection.

He placed that aside as he spotted a nearby shop that appeared to be some sort of area for buying supplies and more besides. The Spartan looked it over carefully and it was not long before a smiling blonde human female walked over to the Spartan and greeted him.

"Good day to you sir, my name is Katherine Pierce and this is my humble store, is there anything you like?"

John replied to that.

"What exactly do you sell here?"

The blonde shrugged a bit yet retained her usual happy demeanor.

"Not much really, just a number of basic Biotic amplification devices of as most would call them, bio-amps, as well as a number of omni-tools and a number of Codex files. That's about it as I am not really into the whole idea of selling weapons and armor upgrades."

John took that in and replied.

"I'm sorry but I don't have any funds on me at this time."

Katherine sighed a bit and replied.

"It's all right, I have some things that need to take care of for now so I need to lock up for the time being."

John decided to leave and make his way to the Wards, and decided to take another ride in the elevator and it was then that Cortana chimed in as the music in the elevator played once more.

"I hate to say it, but I would gladly give anything to hear music from Debussy or even some Flip Music instead this kind of music."

"For once I agree."

…

As John explored the Wards area, he decided to get acquainted with the place and see just was here in this sector of the Citadel. However, it was not long before he felt that he was being followed. He looked at his sensors and saw that there were several contacts following him. He stopped a bit and looked around casually as it were, but began to pick up some details. He spotted a fairly large group of humans tailing him.

"Cortana…you see them?"

"I see them Chief, they don't look like regulars at all, we'd better find a good place to herd them in and keep any of the civilians in the area from getting caught in the crossfire."

"Right, is there a viable area?"

"Hold up, bringing up some of the Ward schematics…there, follow this course. This leads to a less trafficked section of the Wards and no people there who might get caught in the crossfire."

…

"Target is moving out sir…"

"Good, the rest of the team are already there to make the move, follow and attempt a capture run if possible."

"Roger. Team is on the move now."

Unknown to the group…another figure followed them, and it was not a human this time around.

…

John moved carefully, following the route that Cortana had shown him in order to get the group following him away from any groups of civilians, both human and alien. he knew that if these guys were going in armed as they were, then there was a chance that they were not hesitant to use civilians as hostages or bargaining chips. There may be alien civilians, but John had always been trained to avoid involving non essential personnel in battles, and civilians were naturally non essential unless they were Insurrection sympathizers in disguise.

He moved in as Cortana informed him that the group were following him, intent on not losing sight of him. There were at least twelve of them so far and the fact that they seem to move in teams of three each, this meant that they were highly trained individuals and no doubt a special team of sorts. As soon as they were in a less trafficked area, the Spartan and Cortana noted that half of the team were already moving in an adjacent alleyway to no doubt intercept him

He stopped and decided to use this small open area to his advantage as he began to plan out his strategy as the two groups were now on either side of him, he turned quickly and soon saw the team that was behind him. There were two women and four men, judging by the way their hard suits looked he then heard a male voice speak to him directly.

"Hold it right there."

The Spartan turned and spoke out.

"Who are you?"

The apparent leader of the outfit and leader of the second team which comprised of five men and one woman, spoke to the Spartan in a serious tone.

"My name is not important, what I have to say is."

"So talk."

"I represent…a special group of people who have a great deal of interest in looking for you…Spartan. Our leader have expressed a great deal of interest in you and whatever you have to offer humanity."

"Humanity? Are you and your group from the Alliance?"

"We do not represent the Alliance in any fashion, they are…not exactly the best representative of humanity."

"And what makes you say that?"

"They…conform to the Citadel and are too stuck up in red tape and politics to address Humanity's concerns."

"And you think you can do better?"

"We can, and we will, but right now, we are interested in you and what you have to offer our organization. Our leader is very interested in you and we have decided that now is the time that you will meet him."

John did not like the sound of this and replied.

"And what reason would I have to go with you?"

The leader shrugged and replied as he removed his Assault Rifle.

"We were given the order to observe you, but now that we're here, we will try to convince you to come with us without violence, or we can convince you with other means. It's your choice Spartan."

"Let me guess, you plan to use hostages to force me to follow you?"

"If it has to be that way, why not?"

The Spartan knew quickly that these guys were like terrorists, the way the man spoke and the body language the other members of the team surrounding him show that they were going to do just that. Cortana likewise had scanned the group and their body language as well as the way the leader spoke.

"He's not kidding Chief, this guy screams extremist in ten different volume settings, and the same can be said for the rest of them, recommend we deal with the lackeys and take the leader."

"Got it, this situation might prove a problem though."

The man then replied.

"So what about it Spartan? Are you coming with us?"

"No."

"All right then, have it your way…"

It was then that the roar of a sniper rifle filled the air in the alley and one of the human soldiers was suddenly dropping to the ground with a neat hole in his helmet, the other soldier turned and was hit in the shoulder by a second round as a figure appeared.

John quickly realized that he had been followed and when he zoomed in to see the new arrival, it was a Turian with a face he recognized as the Turian shouted.

"This is Detective Garrus Vakarian of C-Sec! Drop your weapons right now and step away from the Spartan!"

Four of the humans turned and began to open fire at the Turian as he ducked for cover while the other human soldiers were already drawing their weapons.

…

The very second the Spartan knew he was clear and a number of his attackers were now quickly distracted by the sniper shot from the Turian detective's sniper rifle, he kicked into action as he charged into one of the soldiers and unleashed a powerful right hook. The Kinetic barriers the agent had on were not enough to protect the man from the Spartan's super human strength and the enhanced levels it had due to the Mark X. They broke easily and the man felt his helmet crack in multiple places from the impact, and he felt his lower jawbone shatter as the Spartan then lashed out with a powerful kick to send the man flying as the sounds of his armor shattered and his bones broke as well.

The Spartan quickly grabbed the man's now flying Assault Rifle and smashed the butt-stock of the weapon into the face of another of the attacker that tried to fire at him. The Spartan quickly focused his MJOLNIR's shields and crafted a blade of pure energy and easily cut the head off the human soldier. The woman's eyes widened in her helmet's visor while her head was sent flying as the Spartan quickly grabbed her pistol from her hand.

Both weapons were now being held in both hands by the Spartan as he unleashed a combination of precision shots and a barrage of weapons fire at the other soldiers. The humans who had tried to react were cut down as the attack happened in mere nano-seconds as the Spartan fought them with an Assault Rifle in one hand and a Pistol in the other. One man's kinetic barriers couldn't handle the combination of both precise shots and withering firepower as his shields failed and he watched numbly as his hard-suit was soon riddled with holes.

The other soldiers tried to fire but they only managed to hit the Spartan briefly as his shields flared a bit before the Spartan charged in and evaded their attacks with terrifying ease. One soldier found the Spartan's stolen Assault Rifle in his face in mere moments, it was past his Kinetic Barriers and the Spartan unleashed a hail of slugs into his face, reducing his head and face into bloody confetti. The Spartan then fired the Pistol until it overheated at another soldier. He then tossed the weapon with enough force to make the woman lose her grip on her sniper rifle that she had tried to take out when it struck her left hand.

She then looked on in horror as the Spartan charged right into her like a freight train. Kinetic barriers were effective in stopping a number of slugs fired at it by small arms using Mass effect fields until they fell and needed to be recharged, but they were not much use against larger rounds and more powerful weapons. Ands being hit by a Spartan in full armor and at high speed qualified as being hit by a high speed freight train right in the skull.

The woman barely finished her scream as she was sent into the wall with enough force to actually leave a human sized indention on the wall along with a large number of cracks as well. The sound of cracked ceramic plating was joined by the sounds of bending metal, pulped flesh, and cracked bones as the Spartan then moved away and grabbed what he guessed was a grenade and tossed it right into another soldier who happened to be the leader of the outfit and it exploded into the man as he fell back screaming in pain.

The Spartan then took the Sniper Rifle and as soon as it extended, he shot three more of the soldiers and then tossed the Assault rifle like a baseball right into the face of the other soldier coming in to attack him. The tossed weapon hit with enough force to shatter the woman's face mask and allowed the Spartan to finish her off with a precise shot to the throat. The Spartan looked about and spotted the other team members dead as it seemed that Garrus had terminated the others.

He looked to see the Turian getting him and he gave him a nod of approval as he directed his attention to the leader who he had wounded with the grenade earlier.

…

The man was cringing in pain as hot shrapnel was in his wounds and some sections of his armor had been blown off…he cursed the fact that the female who got her grenade taken had loaded a high grade fusion load out package in her grenades. The Spartan had just slaughtered his entire unit like they were not even there and they were nothing but rag dolls for him to tear apart.

He turned and tried to use his pistol but the Spartan shot him in the side with the Sniper rifle as well as his arm, all in a moment as well.

"ARGH!"

He looked at the now looming Spartan before him and couldn't help but feel fear in him. He thought all he heard was just some work of the Alliance and the citadel, and the man was just some fancy character in cheap armor…now he knew that he was wrong in a very fatal fashion. He coughed out some blood and spoke.

"W-W-What the hell…a..are you?"

John replied to that.

"I am a Spartan II Commando of the UNSC, and you are a terrorist…and I despise terrorists."

John wasted no time as he placed away the Sniper Rifle and then roughly grabbed the man by the ruins of his hard suit and lifted him to his feet and spoke out evenly.

"Who sent you?"

The man coughed out some blood and managed to spit some at the Spartan in a gesture of defiance, it hardly bothered the Master Chief as he merely smashed the man hard into the wall with enough force to injure him but not kill him. The Spartan wanted answers and he was going to get them one way or the other.

"I asked you a question, who sent you?"

"I…I am not telling you anything."

The Spartan decided that some prodding was in order as he took up the man's pistol and fired it multiple times into the ground until it was overheating and without any hesitation, placed the heated weapon on one of the man's open wounds, namely near the side. The man's scream was rather loud as the smell of burning flesh was in the air.

"AAAAAAGGGGGGGG!"

The Spartan then moved the weapon away and spoke once more.

"You and your group were no doubt sent to capture me using any means necessary, that much I know of the second you and your companions arrived and began to trail me. Tell me who sent you or the next time you don't tell me, I will jam this weapon where the sun does not shine."

The man looked at the Spartan and couldn't help but feel that the Spartan was not making idle threats and replied.

"I…I don't know…we were just told to…shadow you…and capture you if possible…"

"You're lying, your group moved with military precision and your too well armed to be a regular band of mercenaries. That means that who sent you is highly connected and supplied."

John then tossed the man aside and replied.

"I'm taking you to C-Sec, they will be very interested in what you have done here, then I'll have the Alliance made aware of your actions."

The man turned and glared at the Spartan then did something the Spartan had not expected, he reached for an area of his uniform and took out a syringe and injected himself and replied.

"Never!"

The Spartan reached the man quickly and tried to figure out what he was doing, but the man quickly stiffened up like a board. Cortana scanned him and replied.

"He's gone Chief….looks like a suicide drug of some sort to avoid being questioned, speaking of which, our resident detective has just arrived."

Garrus couldn't help but look with some level of surprise at the bodies of the humans that were before the Spartan. The young Turian had no idea what was going on before but he had shadowed the group on a gut feeling as the humans usually termed it and spotted them suddenly draw weapons on the Spartan and that was more than enough to convince the Turian C-Sec officer to draw his Sniper Rifle and fire a shot.

The attack drew the attention of some of the humans, but a group of them managed to pin him down while the rest went after the Spartan. He had managed to dispatch them with precise shots with his trusted sniper rifle and looked to see the Spartan now standing over the bodies of the humans. He was utterly stunned at how easily the Spartan had dispatched the attackers before him and made it look like a blur. He however reigned in his awe as he recalled that he had to remain professional before the Master Chief spoke to the Spartan quickly as he moved in to join him.

"Chief! Are you all right?"

The Spartan turned and quickly gave the young Turian detective a nod.

"I'm fine, you were the one who took the shots I take it?"

"Yeah, I was on a different assignment earlier in the Wards when I spotted this group tracking you, they looked way too well armed to be regular gang members or rag and tag mercs so I followed them. Once you all were here in this section I spotted them try to surround you and when they drew weapons, I responded, I hoped to help out but four of their group held me off, though judging by the mess, you didn't need much help."

The Spartan shrugged and replied.

"I don't turn away help if offered. Nice shots by the way, gave me time to take them out before they were going to get serious and possibly catch civilians in the crossfire."

"Thank you Chief, still there is another matter to deal with, who are these people? They aren't gang members and they certainly don't wear basic issue equipment. They look more like they were going into a heavy firefight and were the kind of group one expected from a special forces branch."

The Spartan nodded and soon Cortana appeared on his left hand as she leaped down and looked at the figures of the humans the Spartan had just terminated and she spoke out to the two of them as she scanned the armor they had on.

"This obviously is not regular Alliance weaponry and there seems to be no record of the armor manufacturer who made their hard suits in the Codex Chief, it's a fairly accurate guess that these guys must become to some covert operations group. The question is, is it which terror group sent them? They don't have any marking for identification purposes so one thing is certain, they're professionals to hide any identifying marks or tags."

John looked at them and replied.

"We'll figure that out later, first thing we do is clean up the mess."

He allowed Cortana back into his hand and stood up as he spoke to Garrus.

"This is going to be something that the Alliance and the Citadel needs to know about."

Garrus nodded and activated his omni-tool and began to access it's functions.

"I'll call in some of the others from C-Sec to clean up the mess, it's best you let me handle the clean up Chief, I'll file this into my report to the Executor, he is not going to love the idea of a firefight in the Wards of all things, but hopefully this will be enough to convince them to tighten security around here."

The Spartan nodded and as soon as he left, a number of C-Sec personnel arrived on scene to see what they could do in relation to the mess that was before them all. The Spartan then gave Garrus a file to see, and that was a recording from his helmet's mission data recorder. With that the Spartan moved out and headed to C-Sec to recover his weapons and head back to the Dawn after reporting the incident to Captain Anderson and Udina, this was going to be a long day.

…

Later in a restaurant…

The Spartan was now armed and sitting on a large chair and eating what appeared to be a dish with meat and vegetables with his helmet on the table. After getting to the Embassy and reporting the incident, Udina looked like he was having a combination of a peptic ulcer and a migraine at the same time. Anderson however replied that he was going to dedicate what assets they had to find out who attacked the Spartan and what their intentions were.

When the Council came up via communication holograms in the embassy gunning for answers, the Ambassador explained as best he could that the Spartan was doing things in self defense since he was the one attacked first. It took a while but the Master Chief had been cleared and this time, when C-Sec arrived on site at the Embassy, it was Garrus who personally gave him his Assault Rifle and SOCOM pistols back.

And now here he was, trying to relax after that fight, but there was no doubt that the news about the events that occurred were going to be circulating about. And even if they haven't the Spartan noticed already that a number of the restaurant patrons were giving him a fairly wide berth and it had actually taken a very brave Asari waitress to give him his meal. The Spartan was pleased they actually found a chair strong enough to support him even in the Mark X and he hoped that he could at least eat in peace.

It was not long before the news came out and the Spartan gave a slight look at the news cast going on and he couldn't help but sigh mentally, it was only several hours into his stay into the Citadel and he had just gotten into a fight, and with humans no less. It galled him to have to deal with that sort of thing since he hated taking human life…even those of terrorists, but he had no doubt that it was not going to be the end of it.

He turned and was surprised to see none other than the Asari Commando he had rescued earlier as Shanni smiled at him in greeting. She was apparently fully healed of any injuries she had and was now taking some time off to relax like he was.

"Hello there Spartan, it's good to see you again, this seat next to you taken by any chance?"

John looked at the nearby chair next to him and shrugged.

"Go ahead, it's not like I know anyone here in the Citadel."

Shanni didn't hesitate and sat down next to her rescuer and asked a very fruity and strong drink which was soon in her hand as she drank the drink slowly. As soon as she took in a good amount she spoke to the Spartan.

"I saw you in the Tower earlier and heard what you told the Council, I have to admit that learning about you coming from…another dimension was a bit much."

"It's the truth."

"I'm not contesting that at all, Spectre Selena did confirm it and we Asari know that genetic memories don't lie at all anyway. What I want to know is if the news about you getting into a firefight in an alleyway in the wards was real."

"It is."

Shanni nodded and the two continued to relax somewhat, John found it ironic in every sense of the word, here he was sitting in a restaurant with a woman drinking next to him and an alien woman no less and surrounded by people giving the two of them a wide berth. He swore this had the makings of an old movie back in the UNSC. As soon as he was done with his food and Shanni was done with her drink, the Asari spoke to him as he placed back on his helmet.

"I spoke with Nasshia's parents earlier, they didn't take the news of her death all that well naturally, but they were happy that she was avenged in the end. They said that if I ever met you again, they wanted to thank you."

"Why?"

"I told them how you saved not just me but others and allowed me to find their daughter's killers, so they believe that you deserve some compensation since it was not your plan to begin with. Here, it's only a handful of credits, but it should be a start, if you have an omni-tool, I can give it to you."

John told her to activate her tool and she did so, and he downloaded the amount, Cortana grinned and quickly made a counter on his HUD that showed a numerical amount that showed that the amount was at least five hundred and fifty credits. He was aware of the term credit and knew that Din's people were the ones who make the credit system and while he had no idea what to do with the money given to him, he knew that he might find a use for it sooner or later.

He then spoke to Shanni to find out what else she needed or wanted to say.

"Tell Nasshia's parents they have both my thanks and condolences for their loss."

Shanni smiled as she got up and replied.

"I will do that, and they will be grateful for what you have done, I should get going soon, I've got to report to my home planet and get a new assignment, see you around Spartan,hopefully our next meeting turns out better than how we first met."

The Spartan nodded and then took off to the Dawn to have some privacy for himself and make some much needed plans in private with Cortana.

It took some time but he soon was back in the Dawn and left a message that if anyone official was looking for him, they would know where to find him. He made it clear that he was not going to leave the ship for the time being as well as the docks as he needed some time for himself. This was not exactly welcoming in the minds of the others but the Spartan made it very clear that he was not going to be convinced to do otherwise.

Once he was in the bridge, he sat down on the captain's chair and removed his helmet, but not before downloading Cortana back into the Dawn's database center. The female A.I made her appearance once more and she looked at John with a slightly worried look on her face.

"You okay?"

"That depends on your definition of okay, being in the Citadel might be a good thing to keep in tune with this universe's galactic events and news, but after that incident, there's no telling who else might decide to take potshots at us. The last I want to is to get into a situation where the whole thing could be turned around and used to make us look like the instigators. And I don't want any civilians, human or otherwise getting caught in the shootouts to follow."

Cortana nodded as she understood the sense in the statement made by John, even if they did set up a base of operations in the Citadel to ascend to the requests of the Council, the attack was an indication that it was not going to be the wisest of ideas. Sure they could counter it , but the risks would grow as well.

"Good point, but we can't set up shop in a known Citadel or Alliance owned system, if we register in either, there's always a chance that we can be tracked down and easily ambushed by anyone who might decide to use more open force. If we do set up shop…"

"It would have to be in a place where no Alliance or Council presence is located…any ideas?"

"Normally it would be the Terminus Systems, but that place is littered with all the dregs of galactic society and that includes humans who are more than willing to sell their own kids for a handful of credits, at least that's according to the data I got from the Citadel database. The Systems in question have the usual mix of this dimension's races along with a mix of others as well but most of them are not exactly welcome in polite society. Both the Systems and the Citadel are at odds, but the Council is not in the mood to go on a full scale war, naturally that place is home of the Batarians and with warlords and dictators aplenty…that place is rife with conflict. You can start a fist fight and with luck, you can start a war between gangs that's going to last for quite a while."

"It might be a good screen for us, but we will have to be ready for anything if we set up shop there."

John thought it over, but then he had an idea…

"Cortana, do you have the files concerning the Battle at Shanxi?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Wasn't the reason for the Turians to attack the Alliance was due to an incident with the Council originally meeting the race known as the Rachni and led to the Rachni Wars?"

"Yes, that's about right, the Council eventually made a law for no Mass Relay to be activated unless it's exit point is determined and located. They had the Krogans as their military arm to fight the Rachni when the Salarians found them. But that action led to the Krogan Rebellions as well when the former saviors, the Krogan turned on the Citadel due to their exploding population and that brought in the Turians to the Citadel to fill in the role left behind by the Krogans when they were held in check with the arrival of the force that became the Spectres who held the line as it were. It was there in the said Rebellions that the Genophage, some sort of bio-engineered virus was used by the Turians, and that decimated the Krogan."

"Good…do we have a map of this dimension's Milky Way?"

Cortana brought up the image before John and the Spartan looked at it carefully. On the map were the known locations of the Mass Relays and John was able to see quickly that the Citadel controlled only a small portion of the Galaxy, there were areas in the map that were not yet discovered or explored officially by the Council.

Add the fact that the Rachni Wars had placed a bad memory in the mind of the people of the Citadel, in the same way as the Battle of Shanxi had left a bad taste in both the Turians, meant that a large portion of the galaxy was unexplored.

"Cortana…combine the map we have of all UNSC Colonies prior to the war with the Covenant with this map."

Cortana looked at John and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you getting at John?"

"If this dimension is the same as ours but with a different history and set of races, then it would make sense that the colonies of the UNSC are here as well…but un-colonized. We can use those worlds to set up shop since we happen to be the only ones who know their exact locations."

Cortana was quick to pick up that and replied with a slight smile.

"Not a bad idea…all right then, let's make plans before we take our leave from the Citadel. If we're going to do this, we need to be discrete as possible. So where do we go from here?"

"You know the old saying…there's no place like home?"

Cortana smiled as she knew what that meant.

"Oh I see…"

…

It took at least a week or so for John to make the arrangements without getting a lot of attention from either the Alliance or the Council. He had to make sure that he had everything he needed to get his work off the ground as well as gather more information that he might need in the long run. He had more than enough aids in establishing his base of operations and he hoped to finalize everything he needed. Plus some old techniques he learned in the war was going to be useful once again.

As soon as he had done all he could, he had to attend a meeting with the Council as well as the Alliance, already the news of his arrival had stirred up the proverbial hornet's nest the next day he made his appearance. The only compromise that he got out of being in the spotlight once more for the duration of one week was the fact that no one was crazy enough to make an attack at him without risking serious public exposure. This had given him some measure of peace for now in the station.

C-Sec had decided that after the bloody battle the Spartan had been in a week ago, they had to place a defensive detail around him. Even though the officers in question had no doubt that the Spartan was more than able to take good care of himself after seeing the results on the bodies of the group that tried to fight him, Executor Pallin wanted nothing like what happened before to happen on his watch.

Garrus had also forwarded his report to the Executor and this action, no doubt in the minds of both John and Cortana was going to have a Pandora's box worth of results.

For now, they had a meeting to attend.

…

In the Tower…

John once more stood ramrod straight as the Councilors of the Asari, Turian, and Salarian races were now back in session and this was going to be yet another day that he had no doubt was going to be filled with political discussions. He was also learning just why the military didn't have much love for politicians and politics in general. But he knew that he had to play ball until he could be able to leave the Citadel without incident nor having people trying to track him down until he could put his theory into practice.

The Turian Councilor was naturally the first to fire the opening salvo of questions as he looked at the Alliance Ambassador.

"You care to explain just how armed humans were able to enter the Wards and actually start a fire fight Councilor?"

"They were not part of the Alliance, we had the chance to study their gear and equipment and none of it corresponded to anything that is made by the Alliance."

"Was there anything that you found that would be able to identify them?"

"Not at this time, one thing is certain, they were professionals as they somehow were able to bypass Citadel regulations to allow such weapons to be in their possession. Those have already been confiscated and kept under Alliance lockup."

"Really? Or maybe there had been agents in the Alliance that allowed them to bypass regulations?"

Udina's body language was telling the Spartan just how angry the man was at the implied accusation, and that made the Spartan realize that while he might not like the man entirely, he had to give Udina credit for having to put up with this sort of thing for years.

John resisted the urge to shoot the Turian with a TTR to shut him up as he knew doing so was tantamount to committing suicide as the Turian race was going to really get angry. And there was no telling how it would affect the Alliance as well. Besides, there were some Turians he could respect, Garrus being one of them, after seeing the Turian detective pull off a good shot with a Sniper Rifle in that situation he was in, he personally felt that the young Turian would be better off in the front lines or even in the Spectres, at least he had his priorities on straight.

The Spartan watched the proceedings patiently until he knew that it was his time to speak to the Council as the Asari Councilor then called him to step forward to face the Council. The Salarian was the first to speak to speak to him.

"Spartan, we would like to mention that though we have not been able to make a complete decision regarding your status, the fact remains that the technology you have happens to be beyond anything we have on record. We had every Prothean expert come here to read the findings C-Sec scientists have made on your armor as well as the weapons and they also admit that while it does have some….weaknesses, the fact that it uses absolutely no Prothean technology or E-zero is impressive."

"As it stands we believe that as it stands, having you here in the Citadel under watch for now is a far better option than letting you move around too frequently. However, have you considered joining the Alliance? You are of course human despite your….unique nature and origin, so it would make some sense if you join you fellow humans."

John thought over his words carefully and replied.

"I have already come to a decision regarding that Councilor a week ago and I have no intention of changing my stance. I made the decision not to join the Alliance nor do I join the Citadel."

THAT decision caused quite a stir in just about everyone in the Tower, and John had no doubt that Udina was livid right now and Cortana's humored confirmation of his thoughts sealed the deal. He looked to see that the Councilors were surprised by that…even the Turian Councilor looked rather shocked by the Spartan's decision. It was not long before the Asari Councilor spoke to the Spartan.

"This is an unexpected decision you have made Spartan, I will admit that we did have some belief that you would join the Alliance given the fact that you are human, and the Alliance would indeed benefit with your joining them. Though I take it you have a very good reason for not joining either the Alliance or the Citadel?"

"Yes I do. The reason is that even though I am human, I am still a member of the UNSCDF, and while the organization does not exist here in this reality, I am still honor bound to follow it's rules and regulations. I have served under the UNSC for the majority of my life, and changing alliances is not something that I will do lightly, I have served Humanity for over forty years of my existence as a Spartan, fighting to defend them from the Insurrection, then the Covenant forces and eventually from the Flood. That directive for me still stands which is why I will still continue to do my sworn duty to defend humanity, but I will do it the way I always have for the past four decades of my life as a Spartan and that is by the rules of the UNSC."

"In that regard, despite my biological aging being changed by 26th century medicine of the UNSC and the use of Cryo-chamber technology to halt my aging process which makes me younger than I am, I am already in what would be in my fifties so it will take me too long to change the way I think and act. There is also the fact that I have worked with my fellow Spartans for years as well as members of the UNSCDF, in that sense, having me work with a whole new batch of people is counterproductive to my performance as a Spartan."

"As for me not joining the Citadel, remember that I have been fighting aliens for nearly three decades. Even if none of your species existed in my reality and the UNSC had no contact with either of them, the three decades of fighting the Covenant and eventually the Loyalists and the Flood have made me wary of aliens. This is not bigotry or racism of any kind as first Contact for the UNSC with another intelligent race ended badly, just as it did for the Systems Alliance. However, there was no Council to stop this war and there were no races in the Covenant who were trying to find a diplomatic solution to the situation. They were all united by their leaders who wanted to keep their power, through lies and deception to exterminate Humanity as a whole"

"Unlike the Battle of Shanxi that lasted only a number of months that eventually led to the Alliance being given an embassy here on the Citadel, the UNSC-Covenant War lasted three decades with Humanity being pushed to the brink of extinction as the Covenant not only killed members of the UNSCDF, but also slaughtered civilians, men, women, and children. They also blasted worlds with plasma beams, literally turning them into charred glass ruins of once beautiful and prosperous worlds, littered with the bodies of the dead. They took no prisoners and never hesitated to destroy every trace of Humanity, some of their races even willingly feasted on the flesh of humans, alive or dead, civilian or military. Your Spectre agent confirmed this all when she read my thoughts after all."

The three nodded slowly as they had been in discussion with Selena for a while about what she had witnessed when she melded with the Spartan's mind to see his memories and confirm them. Everything the Asari had seen spoke of the war and while they had not seen it themselves, the fact that there was no way genetic memories could lie meant that the Spartan's experiences with aliens was real.

John then replied.

"I want to make it clear that I am not going to fight the Citadel in any possible fashion, I know that this is not my world and fighting the races here that are not human will gain me nothing. The UNSC never started the war with the Covenant, and I will not start a war with anyone here as well unless I am the one attacked first. I do not trust aliens easily and even then the Covenant Separatists sided with us after their discovery of the truth, it was never easy for anyone in the UNSC to work them…they had killed and butchered our people and worlds all for the lies told to them by their leaders for three decades. I have watched good men and women, as well as fellow Spartans die all because of their leadership's lies and treachery, I have watched human held worlds burned to glass without mercy or pity and the deaths of innocent civilians by the billions."

"I however am no extremist nor will I see all other races as the enemy despite my experiences, it was war, a war no one in the Citadel races had taken part of so I have little reason to label your races as the enemy."

The Turian, Salarian, and Asari Councilors were silent as they could hear the truth in the words of the Spartan, and it was then that the Asari spoke.

"So what will you do Spartan, if you wish not to be part of either the Alliance or the Citadel?"

"I wish to work on my own terms, I am not an enemy of either the Alliance or the Citadel, but I will defend humanity from all threats both inside and out. The attack on me a week prior shows that there are elements even in humanity that I have to be wary of and I loathe the idea of involving civilians, human or otherwise in a firefight. So I will operate on my own terms, and to prove that I am not going to be a threat, I will allow both the Alliance and the Citadel to send agents to watch over my actions and give reports to both. And if it comes to it, I will also allow members from the Alliance and the Citadel races to work on the ship as well. Only those who are volunteers are allowed and I will screen them personally as well to make sure that they know that while on my ship, they shall follow my rules, if not, I will have them removed myself."

The Citadel Councilors were already contemplating what the Spartan had just told them and the Salarian Councilor then spoke to the Spartan.

"So you wish to operate as an independent party, following the rules and regulations of your parent organization as it were? That is understandable in most regards since you are not from around here….however, you must realize that without political support and also sponsors, you will be severely handicapped in this galaxy."

The Turian then replied.

"Not only that, you can bet that you will very much be under the suspicion of various elements, both from those here in the Citadel and even from humanity itself, as the attack on you before no doubt told you."

The Spartan shrugged and replied.

"I have faced odds that would reduce even battle hardened veterans to blubbering wrecks, fought in a three decades long war against numerically and technologically superior enemy forces, won every military award and recommendation in the UNSC, never been captured or failed a mission in my life, fought a parasitic race that sought to consume all life in my reality, and stopped galactic super-weapons. And to the fact that I have my own ship and a long time ally and friend in one of the best created by the UNSC, I think I can get by well enough on my own for now Councilor."

Most of the people there would have thought that the Spartan was being arrogant and cocky, but none of them were going to say that within earshot of the man. As for the Councilors, the Asari and the Salarian had to admit that he did have a point while the Turian shook his head at that. The Asari Councilor then replied.

"Very well, we will agree to your request, however, for now we will have to search for a viable candidate to serve as our observer on your ship. As such, your ship is now registered in the Citadel database and will not be in lock down. Know however that if you are found to be making hostile actions on any Citadel asset without just cause, you will be seen as hostile and be shot on sight. If there is nothing else, this meeting is adjourned."

John nodded and took his leave and was soon accompanied by both Anderson and Udina, the Captain being the first to speak.

"I have to admit, that was certainly unexpected coming from you Chief."

Udina however replied.

"Unexpected? That's putting it mildly! You willingly left the Alliance behind you! You may be following the protocols of the UNSC, but that organization hardly exists here! The Alliance is the galactic face of Humanity Spartan, so why would you not side with us?"

The Spartan turned and looked at Donnel Udina seriously and replied.

"I have made my decision and I will not change my mind, and I have not abandoned Humanity in any fashion Ambassador, I am going to defend Humanity as I always have, but on my terms and that is already something in Spartan terms, plus Cortana's arguments about me signing up with you still stand. Do you want to argue with me about it?"

Udina looked at the Spartan and saw his face looking right back at him with the same expression and he sighed mentally. He knew that he was not going to be able to change the Spartan's mind as the man was as stubborn as a tank. He then replied sourly at the Spartan showing that despite knowing the Spartan was not going to change his mind.

"Fine, but know that the Council had a point in that meeting, being independent has made you a bit of an enigma and a potential risk in the eyes of everyone the galactic community. Keep that in mind Spartan so don't expect the Alliance to cover for you if anything happens."

"I know."

"By the way Chief, if you are serious about this plan of your to be independent, you will need to set up somewhere, a base if you will, where do you plan to find one if you're not going to side with either the Alliance or the Citadel?"

John replied to Anderson's question with a shrug and some words.

"I'll figure something out."

Anderson was curious about that but he knew that he would have no authority over the man as he was an independent person now. But he hoped that if the Spartan was going to help them in whatever way possible, it was going to show to the brass that while the Spartan was not officially on their side, he was an ally to Humanity no matter what flag he flew.

…

Hours later…

It was not long before the Dawn was now fully powered up and leaving port and heading off to an unknown location. What was known that for the past week or so, the oddly designed but fearsome looking UNSC-Forerunner hybrid ship had gotten quite a number of people gawking at it as it was naturally not matching any known ship hull design or configuration that was on record. As soon as the ship was clear, the Master Chief then began to make his move as he had the ship move away from the Citadel.

A number of ships were flying by, trying not to make any attempt that would be seen as hostile or suspicious, but their attempt to shadow the Dawn was not lost to the most attentive observer, in them a number of people tried to track the Dawn and see if it will make a move.

And make a move it did as a Slipspace portal opened up before the Dawn as it entered it

The Dawn soon vanished through the portal and was no longer in Citadel Space, much to the shock of the people who were trying to figure out just where the ship planned to go if it was not going to use a Mass Relay. The ships that were there in the area couldn't help but stay still as their respective crews tried to get a chance to locate it.

One such ship, resembling a simple supply freighter was filled with a number of people who were already on panic mode, as if a massive case of hyper aggressive diarrhea had just gripped them. The crew were all shouting at trying to figure out something that no doubt involved the Dawn.

One officer spoke.

"We lost track of it?"

"I'm afraid so sir…whatever that…thing was, we lost any and all signs of the ship…"

The officer shook his head and replied.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it for myself, that ship just vanished…any signals from the bugs we did manage to place without the C-Sec shirts finding them?"

"None sir…they just cut off the second that ship entered that portal or whatever it was."

"All right, this mission is scrubbed for now. Man, the higher up are not going to like this."

…

As soon as the Dawn appeared from the Slipspace portal, it found itself in a system and before a large number of planets were moving in orbit. The Dawn then made it's way towards the system, aiming for one planet in particular. The Spartan had used the Cole Protocol and dumped in random jump coordinates into the NAV Computer and Cortana did the move when they were about to leave the Citadel.

Once they were clear of Citadel space and actually at least five hundred light years in the middle of nowhere in the Galactic map they got from the Citadel, they had the Constructors fan out of the ship and scan the entire ship for tracking devices in every section and corner of the ship, while having some of the other Constructors scan the interior alongside the Huragok. They found a number of bugs and John decided to have those placed on a pod and dumped out into space.

Once the Dawn was cleared, Cortana brought them here to this place and soon they arrived on a planet that was a very beautiful and pristine world. It was then that the Dawn unleashed small drones all over the surface of the world in question. Already the UNSC made Clarion Spy Drones were on the move to scan the whole of the planet

Cortana smiled as she looked at the world before them, she began to read the Clarion Spy Drones scan the world while John looked at the planet without batting an eyelash, but she knew that her Spartan was actually reliving the memories of the past when he gazed at this world in question. She knew that this world had a great deal of meaning and place in him…and it did so with her as well.

John turned and looked at her.

"So, what did you find out Cortana?"

"There's no sign of any habitation structures so far on this side of the planet, the Clarion Spy Drones have spotted no sign of anything that would show occupation on the other side of the planet either John. It looks like this place has not been found out by anyone just yet. I'll send out the drones after a few minutes to do a full scale scan the area of the system for any sign of Mass Relays of both types. All in all though, this place is pretty much a Relay Dead Zone at this point and is not registered anywhere on Citadel or Alliance maps."

John nodded at that.

"Perfect. Is there anything else on scanners so far that we need to deal with or exploit?"

"Yeah, apparently the atmosphere has progressed nicely and is ideal for human habitation; geological stability seems to be at an all time high, and there are signs of a slightly higher concentration of metals and minerals on several exposed locations. The soil appears to be remarkably healthy and ideal for the growing of livestock and agriculture if needed and herds of native life are present. The weather patterns are stable as well so the cycles are not too different. Looks like this version of home is as good, or in this case even better than the old one. Shame that neither the Alliance nor the Council know about this place huh?"

"I suppose, where's the best place to hide the Dawn?"

The two began to think and plan about how to set up their base of operations here in this world as well as the other planets that will be in the area. They had the support and the natural resources of this world for them to use in their plans. And most of all, this place was indeed home to the two of them and for different reasons.

For Cortana, she was by all accounts born here, and it was here that she and her mother eventually found the path needed to save mankind from the Covenant and the flood as well.

For John, this world was where he began his life as a Spartan; he grew up here and trained here for the majority of his life, like the rest of his brothers and sisters. It was here that he became who he was and is still. Even if this world was not…his home in every respect, he would defend it fiercely.

He had failed her in the past in his reality and watched the Covenant burn and scar her badly; he will not fail to defend her here this time around.

This was their home…

This was Reach…

…

In a room…

"The team lost the ship?"

A female voice spoke out with a measure of calmness and coolness as well, not a hint of emotion there, though there was a level of disappointment as well.

"Yes sir, apparently the portal it disappeared to as somehow blocked out all forms of signals from the bugs the team did manage to plant while avoiding C-Sec detection. All we know is that this…Forward Unto dawn' has completely vanished from the scanner range of our ships."

A shadow covered hand handed what appeared to be a display pad to another hand that showed a human figure sitting down, a thin veil of smoke came down and showed that the figure was possibly smoking.

"I never thought much of the report of this ship appearing out of nowhere and thought I was nothing but more Council bullshit with the aid of the Alliance, but now I see that we were all mistaken. This must not happen again, have our techs try to figure out what they can….that ship and it's contents may give us the edge we need."

"Understood sir, what of the Spartan and that A.I of his?"

"He must be convinced somehow…but we have nothing to work with for today…once we have managed to acquire his location, I want no one to take full action until we have calculated everything. Shadow Team's loss has taught us that this Spartan is too dangerous to be treated lightly in any form…and even if we have thought of everything, we must be ready for the worst. As for his A.I, it must be captured intact and unharmed, no matter the cost. That A.I holds secrets, secrets which must be found."

"Yes sir."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

All right, yet another chapter finished, this might be slightly shorter but it cannot be helped since I do have to make some level of concessions on the work. At any rate, John now has a lot of records and files courtesy of that foray into the Citadel network though it will be a bit before Cortana manages to sort everything out.

As for the Chief, it seems he is going to be an independent party for this run of the story, normally for some fics, he ends up joining the Alliance and eventually the crew of the Normandy. For this one, I am following the same trend with G.I Joe Halo in making the Chief an independent force that is not in the command of either the Alliance or the Citadel. This might upset some readers, though why I have no idea, but for me, having the Chief align with the Alliance is going to have some serious consequences, as was mentioned in the story.

The Alliance might gain a lot from having the Chief and Cortana on their side but you can bet the Council will not like that. This plays well into Cortana's plans as this will ensure that neither side will try to grab them without attracting the attention of the other. Of course neither Cortana nor the Chief want to be the focal point of a war of interest so they take a more unique route in making their place in the new community they happen to have stumbled into.

And before you ask, this has been my plan to have the ME universe physically mirror the Halo Universe, with subtle differences. The most obvious is that Reach has not been colonized by the Alliance and is in an area termed as a Relay Dead Zone. Essentially there are no relays here in the system and as such no one has found it yet. And also it is more stable and has adapted naturally into a human life form sustaining world.

Now before everyone starts asking me how that is possible, keep in mind how the Rachni Wars started and how that event led to the Battle of Shanxi between the Turians and the Humans.

And while there ARE covert attempts to explore the galaxy, no one is willing, in either the Alliance or the Citadel to go off galvanizing into the unknown and risk attracting a hostile species that might be like the Rachni and drag the whole galactic community in a costly war, which works fine in the books of both the Spartan and the A.I as this gives them a good deal of privacy to make their own way in the galaxy. And with the Alliance relying too heavily on Mass Relays and not being aware of the location of Reach and the other worlds that are habitable, the Spartan as an advantage. And there is one thing the Chief is known for, it's using any and all advantages he can get.

…

Now concerning the OC Asari Spectre Selena, it's been brought to my attention about her age and the time line of how humans joined the Citadel and how it would be impossible for an Asari and Human to meet and have an Asari daughter. I already have plans to change her age since it was not fitting in entirely, but for the idea of her having a human father, it has not changed.

Keep in mind that at the time, humanity had made a lot of attempts to explore beyond the solar system, so there is always the possibility that humanity had made prior attempts to go beyond the Sol System. And during the earlier years, there is always the chance that some public or private organizations and individuals would try to find ways to explore the galaxy. This was before the use of FTL so we have to assume that these possible first attempts were supposed to be considered failures until the development of FTL with the use of Prothean technology data recovered in the ruins on Mars in 2148.

Therefore, there is a distinct possibility that some attempts to go beyond the Sol System were attempted in Humanity's history and were eventually written off as failures until enough time passed that they were forgotten by Humanity entirely. These attempts would have been expensive and would have required only handfuls of volunteers and as such, they didn't exactly have a high success rate at the time even with the advances of Genetic engineering in that timeline to ensure that they were going to live through it. However, if there's one thing about us humans in general, we don't bow down and give up easily. And the same could be said for those explorers who volunteered for the job.

As for the Asari, their race in their Maiden Stage would also be restless and curious about the universe and make their own plans to explore the universe.

And while Asari do have the three stages of Maiden, Matron, and Matriarch in their race with all the biochemical and physiological changes to go with them, they do make decisions that might seem odd. Some Maidens stay home, some Matrons decide not to settle down, and Matriarchs do not concern themselves with community affairs. So it would also stand to reason that some Asari in either the Matron or Matriarch stage would also go out and explore the galaxy of their own free will.

In fact, in the Codex relating to the Asari, they were mapping the Gorgon System when Humanity was still in the 17th Century.

In hindsight, this would mean that there is always the chance that prior to the official contact between the Alliance and the Citadel Council, there may have been contact prior to that, but was not recorded due to many possible complications and events that go unnoticed in the background or had been forgotten in one way or the other and deemed as failures.

In this case, Selena's Asari mother and human father may have met in on such possible 'unofficial' encounter and Selena being the result of the said meeting between her mother and father.

Like Joker stated in the opening of ME in the Normandy when they were on their way to Eden Prime...

'That is the official story, but only an idiot believes the official story.'

Besides, I will reveal her background story soon enough so that will fill in the gaps. Hopefully that should settle the matter for now and at least let me have some peace of mind to do this in the first place. And keep in mind, this story is a work of fanfiction, so I have some leeway to make changes, well within reason of course.

…

As for the Spartan, he will be dealing with the results of the matter before him soon enough though like everyone else at the timeline, he has no idea who this group is. However, this does tell him that someone has taken an interest in him and the technology he has with him and not in a very friendly fashion.

Anyway, we'll get a move on with the story, I'll make another chapter or two before I put this one on ice to work on my other works. So I hope that this will be all right until I can get back to it.

Bye!


	4. A Watchdog and an Escort Run

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware of Bungie or their products, shame…

Chapter 3

A Watchdog and an Escort Run.

…

Two weeks later…

John was back in the Dawn and was soon taking off another planet in the galactic map. He had been hearing reports of Batarian activity in the areas where a new Alliance sponsored colonization effort was underway in the Attican Traverse. Already one of the colonies was attacked, thankfully there had been people taken as it seemed that the Batarians were more interested in keeping the Alliance from getting enough of a foot hold. However there was a chance that it was going to be just the beginning to a large slave raid.

He had gotten to the Citadel and had been informed by Anderson who became his unofficial liaison with the Alliance of the problem and he went out to locate the base where the raiders and pirates were operating and cripple them severely to make sure that this latest Batarian attack was halted in it's tracks.

The Spartan tracked down the base and hit it hard and fast as he was still in the ship and attacked the Batarian pirate ships while they were still in orbit. The Batarians were surprised by the sudden arrival of the Dawn and tried to fire at the Frigate. They might as well had used jelly beans as the Mass Accelerator guns that they had attached on their ships were not powerful enough to breach the Dawn's Forerunner made Shield systems. The Dawn's MAC Guns however were more than enough to shred their ship's Kinetic Barriers and destroy them with frightening ease.

John and Cortana targeted the lead ship and shredded it easily and directed a salvo Forerunner Missiles at the remaining ships in space and turned them into floating wrecks though the there some unarmed ships in dry dock. John then teleported into the surface of the world and began to attack the base with Cortana providing support with the Dawn's weapons as she guided the Frigate to the surface.

The pirates tried to fight it out but their perimeter security groups were now turned into nothing but paste as the Spartan wielding a BR57 HB SR Laser Battle Rifle, a Spartan Laser, and a pair of Energy Swords. He used the Spartan Laser to turn a number of the Batarian defenses and heavy vehicles into burning ruins and he made short work of the surviving guards in the base while Cortana decided to force a surrender from the Batarians as she hijacked their communication system and gave them a simple set of choices.

Surrender, leave behind their weapons and equipment, and live to return to their homes, or stay and fight and die either of orbital bombardment, starvation, or the Spartan goes to come in there and give them a violent and bloody end. A number of the Batarians got the hint and surrendered while the more fanatical officers shouted that they would never surrender to the Alliance or even the Spartan.

However, they were easily outnumbered by their former underlings and they were quickly…fragged. The Batarians then paraded out and some of them looked to see the Frigate orbiting over them and the Spartan was now walking towards them. They were sent out in an orderly fashion and soon the survivors were making their way back home to the Terminus Systems in the ships. The second they saw the remains of their fellow Batarians who did try to fight back in their ships, they knew that they dodged the bullet and they were soon hightailing it to the nearest Relay to move away.

This allowed the Spartan to begin salvaging what he could, weapons, technology, data caches, left over upgrades for weapons and armor, ammunition, a fairly large amount of left over credits, and several left over suits of Combat Armor. All in all, it was an excellent haul and soon the Spartan had all of what he had taken stuffed into the Albatross.

Once they were in, John used locked down the base and quickly ruined the base's security system and locked it down permanently to let the base be nothing more than an empty ruin. As soon as that was done, he sent word to the Alliance that the Batarian problem had been dealt with and he was going to head to the Citadel and give the mission report to the Alliance Embassy.

…

As the Dawn docked with the Citadel, the Spartan sighed mentally as he readied himself for another round of playing words with Udina and Anderson, though the latter was more preferable than the former. He wished that he was back in Reach and getting the remaining parts of his new base finished.

However he knew that it could wait as the base's critical facilities were very much finished and as such, he didn't need to go back just yet as the place was being well maintained by the copy of Cortana who was tasked to keep the base operational along with a number of newly constructed Forerunner Sentinels that would serve as a defensive force to keep the base on lock down and also to keep anything and anyone from finding the base. With Cortana serving as their main command intelligence, the various Sentinels which ranged from the basic Sentinels to the Protector Sentinels, the base had good defensive abilities despite the smaller number of Sentinels, and coupled with the soon to be installed defenses.

Though it was only two weeks, and it took much longer to set up a base in a short time, the Spartan's supplies and that of the resources on Reach had allowed John to use the Huragok and the Constructors to build the base very well along with the small number of constructed Strato-Sentinels, all of that was possible due to Cortana being able to have the blue-prints of the Sentinel models in her database. They had selected the very same location that had served as the main base of operations for the Spartan II Program. That was the location that was once located over a massive Forerunner installation and was under the jurisdiction of ONI, it was CASTLE Base. And like the base in the past, John's new base of operations was under the massive Menachite Mountain.

Apparently this version of Menachite Mountain was actually filled with large caverns and tunnels which was the result of volcanic and tectonic activity in this Reach's past. And like before, the place was literally overflowing with deposits of high quality Titanium along with several other minerals and deposits that could be of great use for both his own needs and for trade to possible interested parties.

This was where he and so many others in the Program had been housed and trained. Most people in the UNSC who were not in the loop concerning the events surrounding the Spartan II Program would have thought it madness and insanity, but John recalled how it felt to be in Castle Base. The base was located in a massive network of tunnels which were under thousands of feet thick granite and veins of metal, John had reinforced it with at least two meters thick Titanium-A plating as well as EMP hardened metal. This was possible since he had the Huragok, the Strato-Sentinels, and the Constructors build the base under UNSC and some Forerunner specifications. This naturally meant that the base despite not being as large as CASTLE base in retrospect, it was large enough to house a full military battalion and was heavily reinforced.

Most would have considered that to be a major flaw since the Spartan was the only inhabitant and it would have been wasteful in terms of room, supplies, time, and resources. But the Spartan had good reasons to do so as this would allow him to do things that were best left out of sight and also house those he might have to bring to Reach at some point in his promise to allow the Citadel and the Alliance to send volunteers to work with him and also allow him to develop some things that he felt would benefit the universe he was in should the need come to that.

There was a general science area for him and Cortana to store their data as well as serve as a research area for many things that would be of eventual interest to them, and also served as a testing site for acquired technology as well as attempts to create new prototypes of ideas that Cortana felt would prove useful to not just them but others in this galaxy in general.

There was also a massive armory station that would serve as a series of hubs storing the weapons that the Spartan would use in combat as well as salvage from his battles. This naturally included ammunition types for the majority of the weapons in use from the Alliance and the Citadel, as well as the ammunition he had for his regular UNSC weapons as well as his new arsenals. The station's hubs were security pass word locked and also controlled by Cortana and any of her copies as well as being armed with DNA, retinal, finger-print, weight, and sound scanners all attuned to John to further secure the place.

The next was an assembly yard for any new vehicles and weapons that the Spartan would need in battle and a testing yard to see how the machines and weapons would work. There was also a massive supply storage area connected to the assembly yard to supply the yard with supplies. The place was overseen by the Huragok as well as a number of Constructors who could be supported by engineers and technicians if and when he had some volunteers.

Another place was the training area which had a connection to the surface into a more open area of the base outside of the mountain complex though the entrance was well hidden and defended. The main training area was modeled after the very same training that he had undergone as a Spartan trainee as well as also that of the UNSC Marines, Army, and the ODSTs as well. It was a harsh and demanding training ground and was also close to a small medical facility for medical treatment of injuries.

Naturally there was a section dedicated for rest and recovery for anyone, the bunking area to most terms. The section had the usual features, such as locker rooms, changing rooms, hygiene facilities, and the like.

There was also a medical facility dedicated not just to the treatment of injuries and critical surgery, but for storage of medical data and supplies

There was also a food and drink supply area that was used to house the food supplies of the base itself and that was connected to the kitchen as well as the mess hall of the base. All of which were modeled after the same base itself though not in the same size.

These facilities were all connected to one another by both regular metallic bridges with defensive stations on either side of them which were similar to the entrance into the base as well, but underneath those bridges were devices which were actually energy bridges. This technology was first seen by both the Spartan and Cortana in the first Halo Ring and they used it as a way to defend and support themselves here in a unique fashion.

The energy bridges would activate and serve as a secondary means of movement when they would activate the special charges in the metallic bridge to cut them down in the event of an attack that might make it's way into the base, effectively cutting the base into defensible sections. Once the metal bridges were lost and there was a need to move around, the energy bridges would come online under the control of either Cortana or the Master Chief with Cortana in the Mark X.

This made either he or Cortana or both of them the key masters as it were in moving around the base should the base be breached and to also cut off sections which were no longer viable as targets. The base was powered by a unique series of power plants that supported one another in conjunction.

One was a large bank of Hydrogen Reactors that fed off the water from nearby rivers that were in the mountain range's area to provide power to the said reactors. The other was a series of geothermal power plants that were connected in the far side of the mountain range and near a good deal of volcanic activity. The next was a collection of Forerunner Energy Cores that were in a lattice style housing network to provide power. And the last were specially made Wind Traps which were built into the Mountain face and thermally shielded to take in the air currents that moved through the mountain range naturally to provide power.

All of this negated the need to build large structures on the outside of the mountain range which could have made it harder to hide the base's exact location from possible scanners. The rest of the planet remained untouched and both John and Cortana kept it that way for now. They would be able to utilize the rest of Reach's resources and that of the other worlds soon enough. The planet was too vast for them to utilize effective so for now, the new CASTLE Base was home.

But with their data on Reach, they knew just where were the best locations to scout out for resources, animal species like the amazingly present Moa, viable agricultural land, sources of minerals and metals, as well as viable settlement and base locations. John and Cortana knew the value of Reach and decided to use a more unique variant of the Cole Protocol and utilized a system of fusing Forerunner glyphs with ancient human languages and numbering systems, they even resurrected the old language of runes to further add to the confusion as runes by all accounts was a 'dead' Earth language and therefore never used.

He also followed Cortana's advice to honor those he worked with in the past so at least they would be remembered. He did that by having some statues made of those people in a special hall in the base itself and these statues were made with great detail to make sure that they were life-like in every respect. It was not something he would have liked since he believed that no soldier deserves to be honored for doing what is asked of him, but he decided to bend that rue just this once since they did not exist here in this reality.

…

As for the Dawn, it was also housed in the Highland Mountain Range as there was a viable landing site there in the mountain range that was large enough to actually house the Dawn itself. To connect to the Mountain range, the Constructors and the newly made Strato-Sentinels also made a series of tunnel networks to connect the base to the area where the Dawn would be in dry dock as well as some other places he planned to use in the latter part of his stay here in this reality. There was an Anti-Gravity Gondola to connect the Dawn to the docking area to allow people to move back and forth, with a massive energy bridge to connect to the Dawn's hanger bay to ferry not just vehicles but supplies as well to be loaded by the Strato-Sentinels, this was connected to the Dawn by the Dawn's own installed energy bridge emitter.

Once the Dawn docked, several newly built towers would open and actually create an active camouflage shield to hide the Dawn from visual detection. Using the data gathered from both the Covenant and the Forerunner, Cortana was able to perfect Active Camouflage technology to also be able to cover the Dawn in a non lethal but highly effective cloaking energy field that masked it's electronic, metallic, and radiation signature to make it much harder to spot the Dawn while it would be repaired by the Sentinels on duty here in the mountain base dock area.

The bane of Active Camouflage was that it usually generated large amounts of heat, this was countered by the fact that Cortana had found a way to send the heat generated by the cloaking system into massive heat sinks that recycle the heat energy and transfer it to a special system to convert it into raw electricity which was fed back into the active camouflage towers. The heat was masked by the planet's own temperature to using heat scanners on the planet's orbit was an exercise in futility, unless the system was commanded by Cortana herself or a Smart A.I who was made from the brain of someone familiar with the principle that Cortana was using.

John got out of the bridge and carried only the basic MA5C Assault Rifle and an M6G Magnum, but these were not armed with their basic ammunition. He downloaded Cortana back into his Mark X and soon was out of the Dawn and headed off to the Presidium and made a beeline to the Human Embassy while ignoring the stares directed at him by the various races there. Even after seeing the Spartan, the fact that he was who he was still made some of the races stare.

John disliked the attention but ignored it, he had other things on his mind after all than to worry about how the races in the Citadel saw him whenever he showed up.

…

As soon as he got to the Embassy and walked in, he spotted Udina and Anderson once more in discussion, though it seemed that the conversation in question had less shouting and hot air in it despite the fact Udina still looked somewhat annoyed. He had apparently arrived at the end of the conversation as the two were now moving to their own duties until Udina spotted him and spoke.

"Well, nice to see you've decided to grace us with your presence Spartan, what brings you here?"

"I have a report to give Captain Anderson concerning another Batarian base."

This confused Udina as Anderson took the report which was in an old style UNSC Chatter, the former N7 read the report and nodded at the results as he spoke to the Spartan.

"Thanks for your help in this mission Chief, with the Alliance Fleet on duty as it is, we can't exactly afford any more brush fire battles with the Batarians that might spread us too thin. I take it they have left the system?"

"It was either that or Cortana and I either starved them into submission or just outright annihilate them."

Anderson grinned as he had no problem guessing the choice made by the Batarians, while Udina was not happy, he didn't like the idea of the Spartan being an independent party as he would have truly been an aid to the Alliance. This train of thought however was countered by the fact that the arguments presented by both the Spartan and his A.I were valid. But that certainly didn't mean it was going to be easy to accept and deal with.

However, he decided to leave for now as he had some matters to deal with concerning some trade plans with the Elcor leadership.

He gave them a curt farewell and left, this allowed the Spartan to speak to Anderson with a lot more freedom.

"Ambassador Udina still has issues with me it seems."

Anderson nodded at that.

"He does, and with good reason in his mind at least, had you joined the Alliance not only would the Alliance benefit but you would have been a prime candidate for the Spectres. I suppose you've heard of them Chief?"

"Only what they allow in the official documents. Cortana would have accessed more of the data if she wanted to but no sense antagonizing the Council about it and causing an incident that is not going to be beneficial."

Cortana appeared in John's hand and leaped down to take her human sized form as she spoke to the two men in the room.

"That's pretty much true, we do know that the Spectres started out in the early days of the Krogan Rebellions and were comprised of Asari and Salarians who were the founding Council races at the time until the arrival of the Turians."

Anderson nodded at that and spoke.

"Spectres serve as the elite agents of the Council, usually sent to handle matters of galactic importance that the Council has a stake in. Their records are naturally sealed off from public and private access and can only be opened under Council approval. They are to show exceptional talents and self reliance, meaning that they usually have to be able to make do with whatever resources and materials they have on hand with their own talents. Usually no one knows just how many Spectres there are, our own estimates state that they are usually a hundred, maybe a bit more or a bit less."

"Usually the Spectres come from those who have been in law enforcement or military service for years. They undergo a lot of tests and evaluations, both physical and psychological as well, along with taking a number of missions under the evaluating eye of an experienced Spectre. In theory, any member of any race can be Spectres, but in real life, the Spectres comprise of the Citadel races, though they are usually from the Asari, Turians, and Salarians. The Spectres can be of three types depending on methods, some are peacekeepers in every sense, using diplomacy and dialogue before using force to resolve matters, others are ruthless assassins who will not hesitate to use any methods, no matter how brutal and unethical to get results, and the rare ones, at least in my book as those who use both methods, choosing the best approach for what situation they get themselves in."

Anderson got up as John spoke to the man.

"They have nothing to stop them from crossing the line and going rogue?"

"That depends on the Spectre in question, being who they are, they usually listen and report to the Council only. In that regard the Council will only care of the Spectre gets the results and sometimes don't want to know just how the mission was accomplished. Only a gross action can have the Council revoke the Spectre of his or her status. Usually the only way to counter a Spectre who does go rogue after revoking his or her status is to send out another Spectre."

"So why does Udina want the Chief to be in the Spectres?"

Anderson replied to Cortana's question as soon as he was done looking outside of the embassy.

"Because when one is selected as a Spectre, that actions raise his or her race's profile in the galactic scene. Being able to have one of one's own race as a Council Spectre, is a huge boost in terms of political and social power in galactic affairs for any race here in the Citadel."

Anderson then faced the Spartan and replied.

"To be honest, I can understand Udina's frustration on why you chose to be independent and not side with anyone Chief. In a way, you could say that you would make a prime candidate for the Spectres, since, forgive me if this sounds offensive to you in some way, the Spartans are like the Spectres."

John shrugged and replied.

"That might be true in some respects, but there are obvious differences between Spectres and Spartans, we were founded to fight insurrection and rebellion, then fighting the Covenant. And we follow the chain of command being in the military for a long time, as well as following the rules and regulations of the UNSC to the letter."

"That's right…at any rate, even if you aren't a Spectre, you're decision to help us to me is boon either way, others like Udina might not see it that way, but I do. At any rate, I've got some matters to deal with…"

The conversation was cut when the communication system came online and showed that the Council was calling, Anderson had no idea what this was about but decided to answer it. Soon the three Councilors came to view and they were a bit surprised to find that it was not Udina there in the office of the Human Embassy but Captain Anderson and the Spartan as well as his A.I. Anderson however was quick on his feet and spoke.

"I am sorry to say that Ambassador Udina had to take care of some other matters, is there something that you need Councilors?"

The Asari Councilor spoke first in that regard.

"Yes there is, though this situation is more fortuitous in a way, we have recently come up to a decision regarding the Citadel's observer to the Spartan. Normally we would have preferred a seasoned Spectre to serve as observer, but we have decided that it would be best to send someone that the Spartan has already known. To that end, we have selected Spectre Selena to represent the Council."

The Turian Councilor then spoke.

"Spectre Selena has an excellent record despite her age in Asari terms and has a good deal of respect towards humanity, that and the fact that she was the one to confirm the identity of the Spartan and the authenticity of his origins makes her a viable candidate."

Anderson looked at the Spartan and Cortana who were apparently surprised by this and after a moment or two, the pair gave their consent with nods as Cortana then returned to her original size and was soon back into the MJOLNIR Mark X as the Spartan moved forward and spoke to the Councilors directly.

"I will accept your agent but if she is going to be my observer she has to know that until I can trust her enough, there are some matters that I will not discuss with her as well as secrets that I will not share. She may have seen my memories, but there are some things that will remain with me no matter the situation unless I deem it otherwise."

The Turian did not seem too happy but didn't make an issue out of it as the Salarian Councilor was the next to speak to the Spartan.

"Very well, we will be sending her over to the Embassy to meet up with you as she is currently attending some matters in the Wards that are of a personal nature. Unless of course you have a different plan in mind towards where and when you wish to meet Spectre Selena, Spartan?"

"I do, I have some materials that I need to get rid of and I will not be here in the Embassy, you can ask her to wait for me at the Docking area where the dawn is if that is a suitable decision. Also she will need to bring her own gear as well."

The three nodded and soon the communications was cut, with that out of the way, the Spartan headed back to the Dawn to get what he planned to sell since he had already chosen those he wanted to keep to be analyzed back on Reach while selling the rest for some extra funding.

…

In the Citadel Wards…

John was currently looking at the amount of credits he earned from sales of the salvaged Batarian weapons and armor along with everything else he had managed to get from the latest mission. The Spartan was currently in the Wards and had sold the weapons and armor to a Volus merchant as well as purchasing some new technology that he knew Cortana might enjoy playing with later. As soon as he was done, giving the items to the Volus merchant, who was named Talheed he spoke to the Volus.

"So, how much for the items."

"Hmmm…they are in good condition, a surprise considering the way the Batarians waste such resources….all right then. Here is at least eight thousand credits for the whole load, it's not much, but I guess it will do for now, with the Batarians being isolated and all, their equipment is hard to come by."

John nodded and took the credits by accessing Talheed's omni-tool, the Volus then replied.

"You know…UNSC-clan, you are a very good way to get hard to come by merchandise at times, ever considered working a side job for more credits?"

John shook his head at that and replied.

"Maybe some other time, I'm not keen on getting a job just yet Talheed."

"Shame, your talents are hard to come by you know, couple that with you…technology you can go places…tell you what…I'll leave the offer open if you want it…until we meet again UNSC-clan."

John left the merchant's area and was on his way back to the Docking area to meet up with the Asari Spectre when his scanners heard running, one being chased by what sounded like a larger group. He wondered about that and decided to track down the activity he had picked up with Cortana getting into the act and plotting an intercept course over which the Spartan could get an elevated view on who was he chasing.

It was not long before he was a an elevated position and then Cortana spoke to him.

"There Chief, to the left."

As he did so, he turned and spotted the source of the activity he had picked up earlier, a gang of Turians apparently trailing an Asari wearing what appeared to be a uniform of white with black and green colors in different patterns, yet the kind associated with what one would see a scientist wear. He didn't need to read Turian body language to know what was going through their minds concerning the Asari. He disliked that and decided that while he was sure that the Asari could fight back, he was not going to stand by and let someone get harassed even if he was not involved in the whole thing.

The Spartan decided to go in quiet as he waited for the group to pass in the middle before jumping activating the gravity boosters on his MJOLNIR to control his descent

…

The young Asari turned and looked at the Spartan and he was quick to see that she was a bit shocked and frightened at meeting him, no doubt due to his appearance and the fact that he easily dwarfed her when he moved towards her. He then spoke to her.

"It's all right; I'm not going to hurt you."

The Asari then spoke.

"I am sorry; I was just surprised by your sudden arrival. I however have to thank you…those Turians were getting the wrong idea when they saw me leaving my temporary residence."

John snorted at that and looked at the gang of Turians who he had just taken down with them still being alive, thankfully he had resorted to using TTRs on the gang who had tried to intercept the Asari in question. He had no plans on starting a fire fight so he shattered the shields first with some powerful but non-lethal attacks and then used the standard M6G Magnum pistol in hand to unleash the TTRs to take down the Turians where they were most vulnerable.

Ever since studying the races in this new reality, both he and Cortana had modified their TTR supply to have a much higher level of chemicals that were custom tailored to affect the various species effectively and take them down in a non lethal fashion. He also began to make a special round made especially for targets gifted with Biotics to disable them and leave them unable to use even the simplest form of their abilities.

He then directed his attention to the Asari and replied.

"No need to, besides, I can bet that they will be waking up after a few hours, by that time, C-Sec should deal with them."

"Um…right…by the way, you're him aren't you?"

"Pardon?"

"The…human from another dimension, the one they called a…"

"A Spartan, you don't need to tell me anything, since you know who I am already, may I ask who are you?"

The woman blushed a bit and replied in an obviously embarrassed fashion.

"Oh! I apologize for not telling you my name; my name is Liara, Dr. Liara T'Soni to be more precise. You will have to pardon me for my reactions, I heard a lot about you and where you come from and…"

It was then that a slight growling sound was heard and John knew that it was not from him since he had just eaten his food back in the Dawn's galley before docking with the Citadel. SO he wagered a guess that it came from his new Asari companion. That idea was confirmed when he saw the Asari blush deeply in what would be utter embarrassment as she spoke.

"I am sorry about that! I, I haven't been able to get a proper meal recently since I had been so busy working with a number of files I have. I was on my way to get a meal before I was…well you get the idea."

"I do, I've got nothing to do so I'll help you get to the Presidium to get a meal, I'll pay for it as well."

"Oh….I…well, thank you."

…

Later…

John watched the Asari eat her food while he was watching over her like a hawk. He made sure not to be too intimidating about his actions. They were currently in the same restaurant he had been in before with the costumers once more giving the Spartan a wide berth. However the Asari waitress who had served him before seemed to be a lot calmer around him as she didn't show some apprehension being around him.

The Spartan then decided to move away for a bit to make sure that the young Asari didn't need to feel like she had been watched and allow her to relax more. Cortana mentioned it to him in private

The Spartan looked and saw that the new arrivals were Turians and they seemed to be targeting Liara as well. He shook his head and moved towards them just as they were going to start with their attempts to hit on her and do otherwise. Just as they were about to make their move on the Asari scientist he intercepted them and spoke in a serious tone.

"Don't even think about it."

The Turians turned and John saw that they had the same marks on their armor which was the same mark as that of the gang who he had dealt with earlier. The Turians looked at the Spartan and their apparent leader spoke.

"You…you're that Spartan people have been talking about."

The Spartan shrugged and replied to that."

"So if you know me, then I should tell you to stay away from the Asari."

"Why would we do that? She happens to be your bond mate or something?"

The standoff was enough to attract the attention of the restaurant patrons as well as Liara as she looked to see the Turians before the Spartan. She hoped that this was not going to result in a fight in the Presidium of all places but she wondered just how the Spartan was going to deal with this situation.

The Spartan then replied.

"No she is not, but she is under my protection. If you know who I am then I have no doubt you know about the group that tried to ambush from before. I dealt with some members of your gang who were chasing her previously."

The Turians were not pleased by this as their leader was quick to guess what the Spartan meant by that particular statement. He knew that they were in a bad way at this point but he gathered his wits and spoke.

"You think that you can just get away with that human?"

"Let me put it this way, your buddies were lucky that I only took them out without killing them, though they will be in traction for a few months. If you try anything, I will be LESS gentle with you and your group and drag your carcasses directly to C-Sec, and that is no threat, it's a promise."

That was enough to convince the Turian gang members that now was a good time to leave, that belief was even more reinforced when another voice joined in.

"What in the name of the Goddess is going on here?"

The Spartan looked as well as the patrons to see a very familiar face…it was the Asari Spectre who had not only seen his memories and confirmed him to the Council two weeks ago, but who now was going to serve as his watchdog.

Apparently the Turians recognized Selena as a Spectre as well and they knew quickly that they were in trouble. Being in front of this Spartan was bad enough, but being in front of him and a Spectre was more than enough to make them clear out in a hurry though in an orderly fashion as well. As soon as things settled down, the Asari Spectre walked over to the Spartan and spoke to him.

"It's good to see that you were able to keep things from escalating any further. I was on my way to the Docking area when I heard that you were here escorting an Asari scientist, I checked that out and saw all of this. At any rate, I am going to have to be frank with you."

"Pardon?"

"I am aware that you have no trust towards me, or rather not just me but the majority of the non human races here in the Citadel. And considering what I have seen in your memories, I do not blame your mistrust as you have very good reasons to be wary. However I will do my best to show that not all races here in the Council are not against humanity despite the histories. And I will pull my own weight as well Spartan so I will not be a bystander."

The Spartan could tell that she was telling the truth, but despite his studies concerning the Asari, he was not going to just accept that. And he had every intention to make that clear to her.

"Then let me be frank with you as well Spectre, I don't trust you that much just yet, and don't let the fact that you've seen my memories mean that you know me completely. It's one thing to see memories; it's another to live and experience them for yourself. I am aware about Spectres being told to be self reliant so I have no doubt that you do have your own equipment, but I have to see if you are as good as Spectres are portrayed to be."

Selena didn't reply at first and both the Spartan and Spectre were looking at one another though Selena had to stare up as the Spartan was taller than her and she had to contend with the fact she could not see the Spartan's face and only saw her face looking back at her. It was then that she smiled a bit and replied.

"I'll try not to disappoint."

The Spartan then turned to Liara and spoke to the young Asari.

"I have to leave now."

"Oh, very well, thank you Spartan."

…

Two hours later…

John was busy working on checking the Dawn in a visual inspection of the hull for any devices that might be placed on the ship while he was out. It was one hour before that Anderson came with a case and explained that it was a case that had some weapons and a suit of armor that the Spartan could use for whatever he needed. He thanked the Captain and it was then that Liara came and spoke about a request.

She had to go to another new dig sit but due to some problems securing transport, she had no means to get to the dig site in question and requested to ride in the Dawn. Naturally he replied as best he could without showing irritation that the Dawn was not a passenger liner. But she offered to trade knowledge of the Protheans for passage, and the fact was that since he could see that she was actually kind hearted and not someone prone to lying, he reluctantly agreed, the fact that Cortana wanted that added weight to the whole thing.

He filled in Selena about it when she arrived with the cases that no doubt had her gear and weapons as well as anything she deemed that she would need in her time on the ship. The Spectre didn't mind and this would actually allow her to see him in action since Prothean Ruins would usually be magnets for raider and looters.

Just as he thought that things were over, his motion sensors picked some groups heading in his direction.

The Spartan turned as he found a contingent of Asari moving towards him, he could easily see due to the weapons there as well as the Armor that the majority of the group were Asari Commandos. And the oddly dressed Asari with them must be their leader. The Spartan raised an eyebrow at this and decided to find out just who they were while carrying his MA7A Laser Assault Rifle on his back and a M7A Magnum on his thigh. He moved and was soon stopped by a pair of the Commandos as one of them replied.

"That's far enough."

The Asari leader spoke calmly at the Asari.

"Be at peace Shiala, the Spartan is not an enemy."

The younger Asari seemed a bit shamefaced and replied.

"Forgive me Matriarch Benezia, but it is my duty to protect you as are the rest of my unit, and riding with someone who has a…reputation like him is not very comforting."

"I understand, but we have little choice in the matter so we must make due with that we have."

The Matriarch turned and spoke to the Spartan in a serene and calm tone, John knew enough of the Asari that she was no doubt nearly a thousand years of age befitting a Matriarch. He already knew that Asari were well aware of their attractiveness to other races and were more than willing to show it, and even though this Matriarch seemed to be a bit more…conservative than the ones he had already met, the outfit was enough to grab a man's attention.

"I apologize for the intrusion Spartan, I am Matriarch Benezia and I would like to request permission for my followers and I to board your ship and seek passage."

John raised an eyebrow at that and wondered since when did the Dawn become a passenger liner, he had already agreed to ferry Dr. Liara to her newest dig site as she had requested permission as she had not been able to ride a ship bound to her destination. That decision was against every bit of his training as the Dawn was a warship and civilians were not welcome unless they had special clearance, or were refugees from a warzone who had to be saved before they were taken by the Covenant.

In this case however, he was now dealing with an Asari Matriarch who no doubt had a high place in the Asari society, so refusing her was not going to be very helpful for his situation. He weighed his options in mere moments and decided to tell the Matriarch about his take on the situation.

"I need to know exactly why is it that you have not taken a ship to your destination Matriarch Benezia. I'm not trying to be offensive but I find it hard for a Matriarch not being able to find a vessel considering the position in Asari society that you're particular…age group have."

Benezia smiled and replied.

"I will have to agree, however, due to some very personal business, I was unable to board any ship at this time so I decided to find an alternate means of transportation. However, with the Citadel traffic controllers as tired as they are and traffic here as it is, finding a transport would have taken too much time. I had heard that your ship the Dawn was here so I came here to speak to you if you are willing to do me and my followers a service. I will pay a fee if that is something that is a concern."

John thought it over as he knew that there was nothing wrong with accepting the Matriarch and her escort as passengers. He had no pressing matters back on Reach and there had been no reports of increased pirate activity in areas where human colonies were so he had no reason to return to his home base on Reach just yet. The fact that Benezia was willing to pay credits was a good incentive as funds for him were still rather tight and every credit counted in the scheme of things and doing a Matriarch a service may have some potential in improving his relations with the Asari race at some level.

The Spartan finally decided to take in the Matriarch and her escorts but not before giving her some information.

"All right then Matriarch Benezia, I'll agree to have you and your escorts as passengers, but I do have two things to point out to you and your group."

Benezia nodded and replied.

"I understand, what are those things then that you wish for us to know?"

"First off, the Dawn is a warship so there are some limits to where your group of escorts can go and I will not budge on the matter either so if anyone of your escorts are seen to be in areas that are off limits, I will not take you and your group any further, the next is that with it being a warship, don't expect any lavish comforts here, I will house your escorts in the crews area of the Dawn and you will take one of the rooms in the officer's quarters, it's not too spartan in comfort but it is not a hotel suite."

"I see, there is no problem with such an arrangement as you are the owner of your vessel…and what is the other thing Spartan?"

"I happen to have another passenger, an Asari scientist who is on her way to a series of dig sites so she will have to be informed that you are here, and being a Matriarch of both your respective race, you will have to speak to her about why I have to make some changes and drop her off last."

Benezia nodded and then activated her omni-tool and put up an amount to show the Spartan. John looked at the amount and even though his MJOLNIR Mark X hid his face and as such his emotions he raised an eyebrow at the amount that the Asari Matriarch was giving him as her fare for the trip.

(Seven thousand credits…this place she has to go to must be pretty important.)

Benezia noted the silence in the Spartan's voice and she wondered if he was not happy with the amount she was presenting to him. Having established herself as a stock holder in the genetics company Binary Helix, she had more than enough money than she could use so she used it to fund charities and other projects that she knew and felt were good things. She hoped that this amount would be sufficient but it seemed that it was not.

"I'm sorry if this amount is…"

"No, forgive my silence…I am just surprised by the amount, are you sure about paying me such an amount?"

"Of course I am, is this all right or would you like me to offer more?"

The Spartan shook his head and moved aside and made a gesture for her and her escorts to go in. The Matriarch smiled at that as she understood the gesture and she as well as her followers moved on to enter the ship. The Spartan did not miss the looks of wariness the Commandos had towards him and sighed mentally as he followed them into the Dawn, it was then that Cortana spoke to him.

"My…that's a first, anyway John, I did some digging around concerning the Matriarch in question, turns out she's got a daughter."

"And how does the fact that Matriarch Benezia has a daughter affect us exactly?"

The A.I laughed a bit gently and replied.

"That said daughter is here on this ship."

"What? Don't tell me that the Spectre who happens to…"

"No, it's not Selena, the other Asari."

"Dr. T'Soni?"

"Bingo, and the gentleman wins the prize."

"Haha, very funny Cortana, forgive me if I am not going to be entirely impressed. Anything bad I should know about concerning the two?"

"Not so much, in fact they seem to be on good terms all around, not just on speaking terms and for a number of years too. No idea why that's the case between them but it bears to keep our eyes and ears open. Normally I would leave well enough alone, but this should be interesting either way."

As the group moved on, he guided them into a main hall area of the ship which served as something of a meeting hall though it was not a tactical planning room. However as they entered the room, they were greeted by Selena who seemed to be moving out of stairwell that led to the crew's quarters.

Selena gasped a bit and she bowed in respect to the unexpected guest on the Dawn and spoke.

"Honored Matriarch, we had not expected that you would be here with us."

Benezia recognized Selena easily and replied.

"I understand your surprise Spectre Selena; I had to make some changes to my plan to visit our fellow Asari due to not having a ship to ride on. This ship however was the only one available and I have permission to be here as the Spartan has agreed to ferry my escorts and I to my destination."

"I see…well then, I need to take my leave and head back to unpack my gear."

"Of course, I will not delay you."

It was at the end of this particular conversation and with Selena heading back to the room that he had assigned her that his other guest arrived, he looked at Liara as the young Asari scientist walked down the stairway and was about to speak until she spotted just who else was there with the Spartan.

…

Liara's eyes widened as she looked at the new arrival and spoke out only one word.

"Mother?"

Benezia looked and she couldn't help but show a ghost of a smile towards Liara, but a smile that showed maternal warmth as well as she spoke to her daughter.

"Little Wing, it has been some time."

Liara looked flustered as she looked at her mother and eventually decided to speak to her mother even though they had not spoken to one another in several years ever since she took her course in archaeology in her desire to be free of the pressures and expectations of others to her being the daughter of a Matriarch as prestigious and respected as her mother.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am on a special business matter that I need to deal with Little Wing, unfortunately some other personal matters came up in the Citadel that required me to remain and sadly by the time my matters were concluded, there was no transport…with the exception of this ship, the Dawn. I was told by the Spartan that he had another passenger, I had no idea it was you."

"I see…"

John looked at both Benezia and Liara and wondered very easily if there was some sort of family issue here that he had no idea about. It was difficult wrapping the idea of the two being mother and daughter as seeing any resemblance between the two was a bit hard. However he decided that it was something he had best not get involved with. He gave a slight cough and spoke.

"All right then, we'll be moving out now so I hope that the two of you have your destination's exact coordinates so I can log them in."

Both mother and daughter nodded as they activated their respective omni-tools and showed the locations and the Spartan copied them and bid the two farewell as he headed off to the bridge, but not before one of the Huragok appeared, apparently overseeing some repairs and routine maintenance in another section of the ship and had wandered in this direction.

The appearance of the sentient machine surprised the Asari and some of the Commandos tried to reach for their weapons until the Spartan spoke in a strong tone of command.

"Holster your weapons!"

The Asari stopped and with a nod from Benezia, they did so, however the Spartan realized that Liara had walked over to the creature and was trying to speak to it and he walked over to her and replied.

"That's one of the Huragok Dr. T'Soni, you're best off using sign language it you want to talk to it."

Liara turned and replied.

"I'm sorry…but I have never seen such a creature like this…Hu…"

"Huragok, another name for it in the UNSC is Engineer, and in Forerunner language, their name is Artificial Genius."

"I see…this thing might have a certain odor to yet, it's fascinating as well, what exactly is it?"

"It's a being used by the Forerunners who were the dominant force in my…own dimension, they created them to serve as engineers, technicians, and the like. They were the only living legacy they had left behind, relatively speaking anyway."

"What does that mean?"

"Huragok are not organic like you and me or anyone else in the room. They are actually sentient machines. They don't have organs, flesh, and blood, they way you and I would, but their own body parts work just as well as the real thing."

Liara's eyes widened as she looked at the creature who looked back at her with it's numerous eyes and she spoke.

"You mean…it's like a Geth?"

That name made just about everyone, even Benezia tense and the Spartan wondered why that was the case and decided to get some data on these 'Geth' at a later date and spoke to the Asari, this reminded him of the time he had seen Selena react to the sight of one of the Huragok earlier when she entered the Dawn and he explained the same things to her when she asked him what that creature was.

"I don't know that word "Geth' and what it means, but I can assure you that this Huragok and all like it are not hostile. They are pacifists and do not have any love for fighting. Their only concern is to repair and study things as well as rebuild them. Even when UNSC combat personnel encountered them in the war, they pretty much leave the Huragok alone as they are the only Covenant race that do not fight at all. I did hear that the Brutes used to strap bombs on them once but that is not going to happen on my watch."

The Huragok spoke in a few chirps and reached out to Liara's omni-tool and began to touch it, much to the young Asari's surprise. The Huragok accessed it and easily took it apart and re-arranged it into several new settings and configurations which surprised the Asari considerably before returning it back to it's original state. Afterwards the Huragok moved on, Liara accessed her omni-tool and noticed that it was faster than before and seemed to be better than the last time she had it.

"Remarkable…my omni-tool had some programming flaws I wanted to address before, but now it works perfectly."

The Spartan shrugged and replied.

"Huragok can do that, they are essentially living super computers, once they access and study something, it takes mere moments for them to figure out other working configurations and also spot any problems in the device they're working with and return said device back to pristine working condition. They also recall what device or technology they worked with in the past and can easily access the data and pass it on to others. I have to get back to work, excuse me."

With that the Spartan left and this allowed Liara to look at her now fully restored and repaired omni-tool while Benezia sat down and decided to wait and see.

After a few minutes Selena came back and carried a pair of cases with her and the Spartan was there to watch the Asari Spectre via security cameras, and he knew that Cortana was also watching the Spectre carefully. He had been in the NAV Com inserting the coordinates and accessing the map to locate the planets in question. The world where Matriarch Benezia was going to seemed to be an Asari colony world known as Illium and Liara's destination was a planet that was hospitable enough with three continents which the majority of the landmasses had woodland as well.

As soon as that was done, the Spartan reported to his occupants through the comm..link system that they were now on their way out from the Citadel. He looked as Cortana guided the ship and he readied the Dawn's defensive systems on the off chance that things would happen once they were in the destination in question. He turned as he was soon joined by Selena as well as Liara and Benezia who was escorted by a pair of Asari commandos.

He spoke to them with some level of annoyance, Selena he could understand as she was the Council's watchdog assigned to him, but Benezia and Liara was not that expected.

"May I ask what you are doing here?"

Selena then replied.

"I have already seen Slipspace in your mind but I wish to see it for myself as well, besides I can bet that this can be a very surprising experience."

Liara then replied.

"I heard about this ship's ability to actually not use Mass Relays and this Slipspace sounds interesting so I wish to see it for myself."

The Matriarch then spoke as well.

"I too have heard about this ship and wish to see this in action, I also heard that you have an A.I here as well?"

It was then that Cortana appeared before the Asari from a nearby holo-tank with a smile and spoke to them in a greeting tone.

"Hi there, if you're referring to Me, I am right here, the name is Cortana."

The Asari looked with some measure of surprise though only Selena was not affected as she had seen Cortana in the memories of the Spartan and saw that the A.I had a special place of trust with the Spartan and that was the reason why he would willingly fight to the death to keep her safe, she also saw the battle in the corrupted city of High Charity and that made her see the bond of great trust between the Master Chief and this A.I. As for Liara and Benezia they looked on as the A.I moved away from the holo-tank and joined the Master Chief as she spoke to him.

"The coordinates have placed in, ready to move, but first let's make sure that we are not to be followed."

"Right."

…

The Dawn was soon clear of the Citadel and after getting some distance from most of the traffic moving along, the UNSC-Forerunner hybrid ship activated it's Slipspace Drive and was soon off and running into the portal. Inside the bridge, the Asari watched as the orb shaped portal was soon before them and then they watched as they finally got to see just what Slipspace was like.

As soon as they were in Slipspace, the Spartan turned to them and told both Liara and Selena that Benezia would be the first to leave but he had to follow some protocols before dropping the two of them off to their exact locations.

…

In another sector of the Galaxy…

The Dawn finally appeared over the world that was known as Illium, John checked his records and saw that it was between the Citadel and the Terminus systems and it was a free trade world and as such had some less strict laws. He had repeated the same process as before when he had left the Citadel previously though he chose a different set of random coordinates to land in a different location in the galaxy and perform the same scans as before. He also made sure to scan the rooms of his new occupants for any signal devices. He pointed out that this was the basic procedure to ensure that no one was tracking the ship.

It was basic procedure for him and he made clear that this was something that he was not going to get rid of no matter what others may think. As soon as the procedure was complete, he activated the command to spin up the Slipstream Drive and headed to the first destination and that was naturally the Asari colony world that Matriarch Benezia was going to.

He soon got a communications signal from the planet and it was not a small matter for Cortana to connect the communications signal to the Spartan on the bridge.

"This is Illium Planetary Control to unidentified vessel; you have not been registered in our planetary arrival manifest. State your name and affiliation or else be recognized as hostile and you will be dealt with by the defense fleet."

John looked at the monitors and saw several incoming contacts, the signals and readings indicated military vessels and were no doubt used to defend the planet. He activated the communications system and spoke.

"This as Spartan-117, Captain of the Forward Unto Dawn, I am here not as a hostile and I am escorting a VIP named Matriarch Benezia."

"Can you confirm that?"

Before the Spartan could reply, Matriarch Benezia who had remained on the bridge alongside Selena and Liara while her Asari escorts were in the crews areas, came forward and silently asked if she could speak. The master Chief decided to let her as she no doubt was going to be easier to recognize than he was. He moved aside and nodded as Benezia spoke to the communication system.

"This is Matriarch Benezia to Illium Planetary Control; I would like to confirm that I am indeed onboard the Forward Unto Dawn and I am here to conduct some special business matters on Illium."

It took a moment or two before a response was made.

"I apologize for the reaction Honored Matriarch Benezia, we will of course send up a shuttle to pick you up if you like."

"No need, I already have some transportation provided by my host."

"As you wish, Spartan-117, your ship profile has been recorded in the database so the next time you will not receive this particular kind of greeting."

Cortana smirked at that as she looked at John who merely shrugged and replied.

"Understood."

…

The Spartan guided his vessel to the docking area of the city while he had Cortana begin to access the data they had concerning the city that they were docking towards. He was going to read up on the files at a much better date but no sense not having the files on standby if he needed them. He was relieved somewhat that the Dawn even managed to reach the area without incident as he powered down the Dawn's defensive shield. Once the Dawn had docked to the port and a docking unit clamped onto the Dawn, he had Cortana lock the ship down and run the ship's cooling and maintenance protocols while still armed with his weapons.

As soon as he got up and out of the Captain's chair, he was joined by Benezia and the rest of her escorts as they headed to the access door to disembark.

Liara and Selena were currently still in the Dawn under the watchful eye of Cortana while he escorted Liara's mother to the exit area to conclude her business transactions and plans here on this world. As the door opened and out walked the Spartan as well the Matriarch and her escort they were soon greeted by what appeared to be another Asari in an odd yet official looking outfit while apparently being escorted by what appeared to be a pair of well armed Turians. The Asari in question then spoke to Benezia with a good deal of respect in her voice.

"Greetings Matriarch Benezia, I am sorry about what had happened."

"It is all right, circumstances had come up to make me decide on this course of action, and any rate, I will personally pay for the docking fees of the Spartan's ship myself."

The no doubt younger Asari nodded and Benezia wired in the amount to her via her own omni-tool and with that done, the female Asari and her escorts went back to their duties and that was the end of it as the Spartan spoke to the Matriarch.

"Now then, I take it that I have done my part, I bid you farewell Matriarch Benezia."

Benezia smiled and spoke to the Spartan.

"Spartan, may I speak to you about an important matter before you go?"

John stopped and faced the Asari Matriarch with some level of curiosity on what she wanted to talk to him about now.

"What is it Matriarch Benezia?"

"I would like it if you fulfilled a request of mine, can you help keep my daughter safe in her dig for a while until she is finished with her work? I know that her Biotic abilities are more than enough to protect her from most threats such as raiders, looters, and privateers as I have trained her myself in her youth, but it would be a good feeling to know that she is safe."

"You want me to watch over your daughter?"

"I know that this is not something that you would do, and if you refuse, I will not hold it against you as Liara is able to hold her own in battle if she has to. Still, even if my daughter and I do not speak as often as I would personally like, I do care for her and I have always been proud of her so I do wish her to be safe. I will give you an amount of credits now as a payment to safeguard my daughter. Material wealth might not amount to a life, but I want to know that my daughter will be in safe hands until she is done and on her way. "

The Spartan saw that there was no way to convince the Asari woman otherwise and replied.

"All right, I take it that I should not mention this to your daughter?"

Benezia smiled sagely and replied.

"My Little Wing is very perceptive despite her…naivety with others Spartan, she will know that I asked you to watch her soon enough. Thank you and may the Goddess watch over you."

As soon as that was over and the Spartan was assured that the Matriarch was well on her way, he moved back to the Dawn and wondered if he should do it. By all rights, he was not a baby sitter and no doubt that despite not having negative issues with her mother, the Asari Scientist might not like the idea of him being assigned as her watchdog. But he also knew that it might as well be done since it was a request from a high ranking member of the Asari race.

…

Later…

As soon as they arrived to the place where Liara was supposed to be going to, the Spartan left the Dawn's bridge and headed off to get some gear for Liara as well as prep a Pelican for the trip. The Pelican was still the same but it had some increased plating to add to the defense though it was a titanium-ceramic combination of armor this time around to ensure that it was able to balance protection and speed. But not before he gave the young Asari woman some weapons and armor to protect her. He got out the case that had the armor and the weapons that he had been given as something of a gift by Anderson, he figured it would have better service under the hands of the Asari to defend herself.

As for him, he took the time to arm himself with an M100 Gauss Shotgun and a pair of Covenant Energy Swords. This was a good chance to see just how the Asari Spectre could perform and since she was well armed, then he would not have to worry too much about her. He looked for Liara and saw her packing her supplies on a pack and he spoke.

"You're traveling rather light Dr. T'Soni."

"It's part of my work, being an independent archaeologist does not exactly give me a lot of means to do things more thoroughly so I have to make due. I…also can guess that my mother asked you to watch over me right?"

"Pretty much, she apparently was not kidding that you would notice easily."

Liara looked and was a bit embarrassed.

"She does that…"

"She is your mother after all."

"I…know, but I do like to point out that I do not need your protection…no offense to you, I have no doubt you…can be quite the guardian, along with a Spectre

"Here, you might need this

Liara looked at the offered weapons and armor and she spoke to the Spartan with some level of confidence.

"I thank you for the offerings, but I can take care of myself, I have fought with raiders and looters when they come to my dig-sites before so I can defend myself."

"I have no doubt you can. Your mother speaks highly of you and your abilities as a Biotic, but she did ask me to help protect you until your work in the dig site is done. Besides, the Armor might come in handy as well as the weapons. You might not be a professional soldier, but protection is a must."

Liara could see that the Spartan was not going to budge on the matter and decided to accept the armor. She recognized it as the light variant of the Mantis Armor made by the Alliance Company Hahne-Kedar and she had to admit that considering the woodland look of the world where the Prothean ruins were, the armor's color scheme would make it easier to blend in. The weapons were consisting of a Kessler Pistol, a Lancer Assault Rifle, a Storm Shotgun, and an Avenger Sniper Rifle, all of which were apparently at a tier 3 level. The weapons were rugged and reliable in every respect.

She then took the gear and headed to a nearby room to change, it was then that the Master Chief saw the Asari Spectre arrive with her own gear, her Colossus Armor, Harpoon Sniper Rifle, Breaker Assault Rifle, Armageddon Shotgun, and her Razer Pistol, all of which were well maintained though her sniper rifle seemed to have more care given to it than the other weapons she had on her person. She looked at the Spartan and replied at his choice of weapons.

"That stuff's a bit light don't you think?"

The Spartan shrugged and replied.

"It works for me."

Seeing that there was not much she could say that would change the mind of the Spartan, she nodded as she got her gear together and was soon ready to go. It was also when Liara returned and was already wearing her armor and carrying the weapons on her back as well. The three of them boarded the Pelican and were soon in space as the back of the Pelican locked down and the Spartan was the one who was flying the Pelican this time around.

As they got the surface of the planet with the Dawn above them, the Spartan was guided by the Asari scientist to the ruins which were near some open area with woodland about and what appeared to be a viable landing zone. As soon as they were on the surface of the planet, the Spartan and the Spectre fanned out of the Pelican to see if there were hostile beings, either native life forms or the kind associated with non native creatures. Finding neither for the moment, they moved to the ruins and some of the ruins appeared to be large pyramid style structures that reminded the Spartan of the kind of structures usually associated with the Egyptians of old Earth.

Liara began to get to work while the Spartan and the Spectre were on guard duty. It was a while when Cortana suddenly spoke to the Spartan who was currently looking the area over at a nearby ridge despite the fact his weapons were not exactly ideal for long range combat.

"Chief, I'm picking several contacts, and definitely hostile, heading in your direction right now."

The Spartan nodded and quickly spotted the incoming force which appeared to be comprised of Turians as well as a handful of drones which no doubt were well armed, with the Turians in the lead. A closer study of the Turians he could see told him that they were not wearing any distinguishing marks that denoted being part of a conventional patrol force. This naturally meant that they would have to be pirates or raiders. They were still a long way away from the ruins but the Spartan decided to inform both Liara and Selena of their arrival and get ready to attack the incoming force.

Liara was a bit nervous though she managed to remain calm which was a surprise to the Spartan since she was not exactly military material. He however placed those thoughts aside as he recalled that having fought with raiders and looters before, this young girl could handle herself despite having no formal military training. He and Selena planned the attack as the two of them would be able to provide long range support and Selena would her combination of tech skills and Biotics with Liara if needed while he was going to deal with them in close combat, using the landscape as camouflage and cover at the very same time.

…

The pirates were already on the move and were already moving in crisp military style formation while the Drones, which were all mass accelerator weapon platforms moved to support them. They wondered where the crew of the new ship were, this was enough to tell them to be wary, and for good reason as two of them were suddenly shot in the head.

The Turian pirates hit the deck behind some boulders and quickly deployed the drones to provide covering fire, three of them tried to triangulate the exact area where the shots had come from. The Drones began to fire their rounds at the area to provide heavy covering fire while the Turians began to advance towards the target area. Some of the Turians managed to move ahead but it was not long before three of the advance party were sent flying backwards into several trees with some hard sounds of impact.

The Drones began to change their tactics of firing all over the place and focus their fire on one spot as they finally managed to spot none other than Selena as well as Liara. The Spectre used her father's Infiltrator training in the tech area to begin hacking into some of the Drones and turning them on their fellows. The captured Drones were now shooting at their own Drones as well as the Turians and it was there that Selena began to pick out more of the targets that she was able to spot with her Sniper Rifle's targeting system.

Liara also used her Lift ability to send several bits of heavy debris to shatter the formation of the Turians though she could not do it often as it was tiring, showing to the Spartan that despite her experience in defending herself, she was no military veteran and was still a civilian, but at least her abilities to defend herself was not too bad. As for Selena she was quick to use her Sniper Rifle to pin down her targets while using the hacked Drones under her command to provide heavy fire to her targets to either pin them down even more or to kill them.

She then moved to using her Assault Rifle and fired controlled bursts to add more power to her attacks, catching a Turian pirate off guard and destroy his barriers and finished her target off with three shots to the head.

All of this was observed by the Spartan and he could see just why Selena was a Spectre, but it was going to be a while before he was going to lower his guard around the alien woman. He decided to close the gap and as soon as he was clear, he spotted a number of Drones which were not under Selena's control.

"Cortana, can you hack those?"

"Got it John."

Cortana had developed the ability to fire non destructive beams of energy that were actually filled with her hacking codes from the Dawn to hijack remotely machines and allow her to take command of them. They developed this in the base on Reach to allow for remote hacking where having her on his MJOLNIR and physically hacking a system would prove time consuming. This was the second time they were going to do this so it would help with figuring out what were the possible flaws in the system. The beams hit the remaining Drones and the A.I went to work, much to the surprise of the people below with the exception of the Spartan himself.

The Spartan did not wait long as the Smart A.I was able to override the V.I firewalls in the remaining Drones and allow him to turn the tables by sending the Drones down as suicide bombs, much to the surprise of both parties. The results of the attacks by the converted flying bombs was obvious as a number of Turians were badly injured and their Kinetic barriers taken out of the picture. That was all John needed as the Spartan leaped out from his cover and quickly fired two shots from his M100 Shotgun at the Turian forces before him, taking two off guard and killing them as the flechette rounds were able to break the weakened ceramic armor of their hard suits without problems.

Liara and Selena were able to see the Spartan in action as he attacked the pirates with his Shotgun and his close combat skills at the incoming pirates. One of the Turian criminals tried to attack the Spartan with a punch, only to receive a crushing blow to the chest that sent him flying backwards as the Spartan then introduced the Shotgun into his face and blasted him full of flechette Gauss rounds to turn his face into a bloody mess.

Another Pirate tried to blind side the Spartan but was soon kicked hard in the neck and had his neck bone broken on impact by the blow from the Spartan. Another Turian came at him with several blasts of the shotgun, no doubt an attempt to try and disorient the Spartan and allow him to either finish him off or allow his comrades to take him out if he failed. But the Spartan was quick to respond with his use of his Mark X's shield manipulation to create a wall to send the Turian flying back and slamming hard into a tree, only to be smashed again by the same wall of energy real hard.

Three pirates tried to get in close but the Spartan countered in a very dramatic fashion as he placed his shotgun on the back and then took out what appeared to be handles of some sort. Then to the shock of the pirates and to the wide eyes of both Asari, the handles released what appeared to be pure glowing blue blades of what appeared to be magnetically contained plasma. The blades were shaped differently to the point they resembled a Mass Relay in some form or another. And the three were quickly cut down by the Spartan with only two swipes that turned all three of them into three neatly dissected pieces that were still steaming from the attack on them by the blades.

The Spartan wasted no time as he literally faded into a blur as he charged into the remaining Turian pirates…before they could even respond. The two Asari saw the Spartan cut down three of them easily. Their Kinetic Barriers might be able to counter slugs, but not energy and certainly not focused energy that was known to cut through even a Spartan's shields in the past. The Spartan was moving in quickly not allowing them to get a clean shot at the Spartan as he was not going to let them get a chance to do just that.

It was not long before over a dozen Turian pirates lay dead, all of them neatly cut down by the Spartan until the last two, both trying to snipe the Spartan and he responded by rushing up to them and then leaping down to cut through their weapons, their kinetic barriers, and then themselves and they fell into two neatly dissected pieces. The Spartan scanned the area and as soon as he was assured that no one else was going to attack, he deactivated the Energy Sword and placed the handles on his sides and moved back to join the others.

As soon as he was close to the two Asari women, he spoke to them.

"You two okay?"

Both Selena and Liara nodded as they got up, the attack had not been expected though there was no doubt that the looters and raiders had gone dark is it were when they spotted the Dawn. No doubt they waited for the crew of the unknown ship to land so they could attack the crew and get what they could. No doubt they had a ship on the other side and hiding there as well, and as soon as Cortana contacted them of it, the Spartan decided to deal with the remaining pirates piecemeal. He left Liara and Selena for the time being so he would be able to give the pirates a little visit via Teleportation Grid.

…

Hours later…

As the Spartan got the files that Liara offered he looked at the Asari scientist who was looking at the ship. When he was able to arrive to the location where the pirate's ship was located, the Spartan was able to get into the ship and terminate most of the crew. It turned out to be a specially modified cargo freighter which still retained it's civilian IFF tags. No doubt the pirates had this ship as a disguise to avoid being found by patrolling security forces. But this ship looked to be either well repaired or recently acquired through less than honest means and equipped with some military grade kinetic barriers as well.

After reading the logs to learn that the ship was the latter, he wiped the logs clean as well as clearing the ship of any possible traps and hidden surprises. He then cleaned up the mess and contacted Liara and replied that he was giving her the ship. The ship was FTL capable and also able to go through Mass Relays and was now going to be open to registry. Liara was a bit surprised by the gift but the Spartan replied that at least this time she had her own ship and at least would not rely on hitching rides for herself.

The young Asari scientist smiled at the gift and accepted it as she finished her looking over the vessel that was now hers to use.

"Thank you…I never expected to get a gift like this."

"No problem, good luck on what you have to do."

Liara bid the Spartan and the Spectre farewell and soon she was off to do her work while the Spartan and the Spectre were now left to their devices. they boarded the Albatross and they were soon off to the Dawn to get some rest for the day. Once they were on the ship itself, the Spartan powered down the Albatross and inventoried everything while the Spectre headed to her room. Once he was done, he decided to get the Dawn ready to move and ready to head back to his home base in Reach, but not before taking the time to talk to the Asari to make sure that she was well aware of the rules he had if and when he would go to Reach with her in tow.

This was by far the worst thing in John's mind…taking a non-human to a UNSC held colony…and not just any colony to boot, but Reach herself. A part of him was screaming colorful expletives and curses to send the Asari woman back and let the Council stew, this violated every UNSC protocol in the book but he also kept in mind that this was not the UNSC in every sense so he might as well adapt to it.

The only good news so far for him was the fact that he and Cortana could watch her both in the Dawn and in the base to make sure that she did not try anything.

As soon as he had that done, he moved to the crews quarters and knocked on the room's door where Selena was staying. He knocked a bit, but was confused by why the woman was not responding to his knock. He quickly ran through the possibilities and did not like it as he quickly activated the override command on the door's security system and entered the room.

Just as the Asari Spectre came out from the nearby shower with only a jumpsuit on with it open and the upper portion down to her waist, and only a towel covering her….assets. The Asari turned and looked at the Spartan with some level of surprise.

And it was not long before Cortana chimed in and spoke in a very amused but annoyed tone, and this was directed to the Spartan.

"Chief…you do know there is such a thing as privacy right?"

…

To be continued…

…

Author's notes:

Well, this wraps up the chapter for this week and I hope that it is going to be worth it to read and now we have a short trip to Reach, though this time, Cortana and John will not be alone as Selena will come along.

Now don't expect this to be easy as Selena has orders to inform the Council of her findings, of course since she is assigned to the Dawn, you can bet that she knows that Cortana will be watching. And the Dawn is the only ship she will be on that will be soon adapted to communicate with the Council via comm.. buoys. And with Reach being in a Relay Dead Zone and no comm.. buoys anywhere, communications is impossible by 'traditional' means which means in simple terms that the regular forms of communication in the ME universe just won't work.

As you can see, John has just met two recognizable Mass effect characters, that being Matriarch Benezia and her daughter Liara. How will this meeting affect the meeting between Liara and the Spartan when the events of ME start and they meet once more?

Of course this might not be their last meeting as well.

Spectre Selena's history will be revealed soon in the coming chapters as she and John will eventually develop a good working relationship and I will be implementing her new changes in terms of her age as well as some other changes that I feel will make this a bit easier to swallow though she will still have a human as a father.

As for this scene between the Spartan and the Asari Spectre…it could not be helped since I had this planned to happen in my mind, but I think that while this will not have any serious effects at this time. But you can bet that this event will be expanded upon on the next chapter. And as you can guess, this might have SOME interesting effects between the Spartan and his Citadel Spectre watch-dog/observer.

But don't expect…well…you know…John still has his issues with non humans…so the idea of going THAT far will not in be in his mind just yet.

Also we are going to have the Chief meet up with Garrus concerning the investigation concerning the attack by the human terrorist, and he naturally learns about one of the many shadow groups that prowl the ME universe and why they would be after him.

However, if there is one thing we all know about the Chief, he is not going to be intimidated and coerced by anyone no matter how good they are.

And you can bet he will give Cerberus a piece of his mind soon enough though you can bet that they will send their best to try and confront him, and you can guess who that agent is.

And there will be an encounter between the Chief and Cortana with a certain reporter who thinks that she can get the Spartan to be seen as a bad factor to the Alliance as a rogue human and use the presence of an Asari Spectre to show that he is leaning more to the side of the Citadel than Humanity in general.

You can bet this meeting will not be the least bit pleasant, but the question for all involved is, for who?

Bye!


	5. Unexpected Company

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 4

Unexpected Company…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

John stood still as he was still trying to figure out just what to make of his options concerning this particular incident. So far it seemed that Selena had not reacted badly to the fact that he had caught her at what most would consider a very bad time. The Spartan remained silent while he was being looked at by the Spectre who was still in the same situation as before. That is until the Spectre spoke in a calm but very much amused tone.

"Do you mind?"

John managed to recover and reply.

"Sorry about this, I thought you were up to something."

Selena was amused by that and had a very accurate understanding of why the Spartan overrode the security of her room, she had not responded at all to his call and he assumed that she was up to something that was a danger to the ship. This was something her human father had told her to expect from his fellow humans who might not have much trust with non humans.

And even though this was not exactly the right kind of situation for a person to find themselves in, she was not entirely bothered as she was an Asari. Her people were quite comfortable with their attractiveness as well as their sensuality so being caught like this was hardly something that bothered the Asari Spectre and actually was something that had happened to her more than once in her life. So she decided to get back to what she was doing before and faced away from the Spartan and removed the towel while facing away from him and spoke.

"It's all right, you're not the first person of any race who walked up on an Asari like this, besides, if you've read my race's profile and you no doubt have, then you can guess we're very comfortable with our looks and the way some of the other races view us. So what you did is not as offensive to my sensibilities as you think."

John mentally sighed at that as he saw the Asari Spectre wear back on the upper half of her suit and wore it once more after zipping it up. Even so, most men would have been quite interested in what they had just seen, but John being a professional kept that side of his male psyche out of the way and he did have to respect the fact that she was more than just good looks and appearance. The Asari then turned and replied with a slight smirk on her face but a totally friendly one and not the kind one would associate with a seductress with an ulterior motive.

"At any rate, I want to know what do you plan to do now?"

John shrugged and thought it over carefully to see just what else he could do. There was not much for him at the moment to worry about so he might as well make the most of his time and head back to Reach to oversee the base's full completion. However, he still had to talk to the Asari about some matters of protocol and rules pertaining to the arrival of Reach if he decided that she was going to set foot on the place.

"First things first, we need to get some ground rules done concerning some very important matters that cannot wait. But first a meal is in order."

…

Later…

The Asari Spectre and the Spartan were currently in the galley and eating some food, naturally the Spartan had his helmet off while eating and this allowed the Asari to study the man she was assigned by the Council to watch over for the duration of her stay in his ship and possibly in where he might set have up as his base of operations while he had been gone for two weeks previously.

For one thing, he was good looking, having a military style haircut that suited him well enough but no stubble to speak of. Well defined muscle and face structure and deep brown eyes. He was not the kind to pass as a model in any fashion and was around the range of being not too handsome or too plain, he was more of the middle ground kind of attractive. But the aura of a veteran soldier was there along with the mental and emotional scars as well which added an aura of danger there to him. That coupled with his looks showed that he was attractive in a very different fashion.

John noted the way that Selena was studying him but ignored it as he ate his food which comprised of some steamed vegetables, roasted venison, some hot potatoes and a cup of coffee. Selena then directed her attention to her own food which to the surprise of the Spartan comprised mostly of sweetened food, the kind usually associated with dessert and not the main course. Either Asari had different tastes to humans or this was a personal preference.

As soon as they were done, the Spartan spoke to her about the rules he wanted her to follow.

'The first thing I need to talk about is the security of the ship, this means that unless I or Cortana have given you clearance to go about, there will be sections of the ship that will be locked down at all times with the exception of either emergencies or missions."

"That rule sounds fair enough, but what if I have to make reports to the Council as per my duty as an observer?"

"The Dawn can link up with the nearby comm.. buoys found near Mass Relays so you can communicate with them. I can have the Huragok set up a communications area for you to talk to the Council, but I and Cortana will be monitoring the broadcasts as a precaution. Where we will be going, there might not be a chance to link to the Citadel so don't expect it to be easy to establish communication links all the time with the Council so report what you can with the time given to you."

"All right…anything else?"

"I will not be returning to my base just yet and when I do, I want you to swear that no mention of the base's location gets to the ears of the Council once we go back to the Citadel for any reason or when you establish communications with them when we connect you to a comm. Buoy while on the Dawn for obvious reasons. After that attack on me at the Citadel, I am not in the mood for my base's general location to be made public for any reason."

Selena listened carefully and decided to adhere to those rules but she also had to make her own stance on the matter clear between her and the Spartan as she was still bound as a Spectre to do her duty.

"I will do what I can not to break those rules, but keep in mind that I am a Spectre as well, I have made an oath to serve the goal of maintaining galactic stability and I have to follow through that oath as well. I am not here to question your reasons as they are valid ones in every respect, but I have my orders to follow so I hope that we can work this out without us having to second guess each other."

John said nothing and decided not to bother with the details as he knew that she herself had good reasons to do what she did. However he decided that he would need to make a trip to the Citadel to make some use of the money that he had already collected to set up an account to keep the funds growing. He needed to find a merchant that he could give a portion of the funds to and allow it to grow so he could find a good use for the resources.

He got up and then replied as he placed back on his helmet.

"Fair enough, we'll need to head back to the Citadel for now, if you plan on reporting to the Council, then go right ahead, for me, I have other things to deal with."

…

In a few hours, the Dawn teleported back to the Citadel via Slipspace Portal and soon docking in to the docking bay as more ships were passing by it. The Spectre decided to head out to give her report while making sure to avoid mentioning that incident since that was not a concern of the Council. However as for the Spartan he was soon out of the ship armed with his trademark MA5C Assault Rifle and a M6G Magnum which were still armed with TTRs, he was greeted by the arrival of a human member of C-Sec.

"Excuse me sir."

The Spartan turned to the man and spoke.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to disturb you, but I was asked by Detective Garrus to meet with you, he said that he wants to talk to you about something and he will be waiting at the catwalk near the Mass Relay at the Presidium."

That made the Spartan frown a bit underneath his helmet but he decided to do this, he had a feeling that the only reason the Turian would ask him to meet up would have to do with that situation that happened in the Wards no less than two weeks before.

"Tell him I am on my way."

…

In the Presidium…

John reached the catwalk that was there near the small statue that resembled a Mass Relay, there was the Turian who had managed to send him a message via the officer. Normally John would have bristled at the idea of meeting a non human, the only exception being the Engineers and in his own world, the Arbiter since they had put aside their differences and worked to stopping the Prophets, their fanatical followers, and the Flood itself.

However Garrus had a good record apart from that incident in the Wards, he had Cortana check the C-Sec files earlier from a nearby terminal on Garrus to get a better feel for the Turian, discretely of course. Good records as far as he and Cortana read, joined the military at age fifteen in human years and seen as an expert with Sniper and Assault Rifles as well as good tech skills, he had a father in C-Sec who happened to be a by the book agent who had a good reputation with C-Sec, and despised Spectres. Was tapped as a candidate for said Spectres once, but didn't apply, no doubt due to issues between him and his father.

Personally speaking, the Turian had the right traits to be a Spectre, just needed the right teacher to show him the ropes. But that was not his concern as he knew that the problems between Garrus and his father was not why he was here, he was here for that information the young C-Sec officer had that was important enough for him to contact him and arrange a meeting.

Garrus turned and spoke to the Spartan cordially.

"Good to see you Chief, been some a while I suppose."

"True enough."

The Turian turned to look at the Relay and spoke as well.

"When I first came to join C-Sec, I spent some time here to think and plan out some of the steps I would take or try to take when I started. But I wondered about that relay from time to time. It might look like a simple construction to highlight the technical prowess of the Protheans, but I can't help but feel something off about it. What if that was more of a real Relay than a replica to commemorate them? If so, where's the other one?"

John thought that over and so did Cortana who had gone to accompany the Spartan as she usually did, however, she and John knew that they were not asked to come here for a philosophical debate on possible theories on Prothean technology or vanity. Cortana then spoke to the Spartan who she cared for and watched over for a very long time.

"Go ahead and ask him."

John mentally nodded and did just that.

"I take it you called me because of the investigation over that incident in the Wards Detective Garrus?"

The Turian turned and nodded.

"Right you are Chief, up front, looking for any information on who sent them turned out to be like trying to look for a needle in a haystack as you Humans would phrase it, only in this case, the haystack's the size of a mountain. But what I can say is that those soldiers you killed, they were not armed with regular equipment. Some of the Hardsuits they had on them were completely unknown in design and would be pretty hard to come by. In fact, they would be the kind that even Spectres would be interested to get their hands on."

"As for their weapons, some of them are the kind that you outlaw around the Citadel as well, they almost match the kind of gear the Council usually only outfits it's Spectres with if the Spectres in question have the funds. So this tells me that whoever they worked for has got some really deep pockets and an even larger bank account to boot. The gear they had was made by Human hands, but I cross-referenced all that we could find with that of the many known human manufacturing corporations and none of them so much as squealed."

Garrus sounded frustrated and John could understand it and waited for the Turian to speak once more.

"There was a good lead though, we managed to find some people who were apparently the ones who helped those guys get in here with gear and all, we caught some of them trying to access some of the files on C-Sec HQ, no doubt to try and locate the weapons and armor we had at lockup and either delete the files or try to retrieve them. We tracked them down covertly and found their handlers and caught them all as well though they didn't exactly go down without a fight. This is the one time where polishing enough gizzard finally pays off when we finally got one of them to talk."

"Come again?"

Garrus shook his head and replied.

"Sorry about that Chief, just an old Turian saying. What I mean by that saying though is that digging up dirt on who sent that hit squad was not easy but it could be done. They belong to a human centric group called Cerberus."

"Cerberus, like the three headed dog guarding the underworld."

"Yeah, apparently they named themselves that way to guard humanity from alien attack and the like. Here are some files that I was lucky enough to find concerning this bunch, they were rumored to have been part of the Alliance once. They were an Alliance Black Ops division that suddenly broke away and became a rogue force at some point after the incident with my people at Shanxi. So far most of the reports about them were called as rumors and conspiracies and downgraded by the Alliance. But they were not exactly the kind you would ignore outright."

"Explain."

The Turian showed another file via omni-tool and the Spartan noted what would the equivalent of a frown on Garrus' face.

"They were known to use very brutal methods and unethical ones, the information I could find includes assassinations, kidnappings, terrorist bomb attacks, unethical experiments, illegal weapons research and more besides. To them, any method they use no matter how brutal to elevate Humanity and ascend all other races is acceptable. To them, history will vindicate them in the end and they've got some really good friends too according to some bits of data I recovered, supporters in the Alliance military and industrial sectors, as well as supporters from well placed private and public citizens as well as some political factions and people as well. "

"Any idea on who the leader of this Cerberus outfit is?"

"Not much of a clue, that's the only thing we couldn't get out of the perp or any of his running buddies. However there is something that I can wager is true, right before Cerberus became what it was, there was an extranet manifesto that was sent out about how humanity should ascend over the other races and secure it's place in the galaxy. The Alliance called nothing but an attempt to stroke the fires of supremacy and called the maker of this said manifesto the Illusive Man. After it was over, the idea was forgotten, but weeks after, that's when Cerberus started making it's mark in the shadows. It might be just a hunch, but I believe that the Illusive Man who made the manifesto is the leader of Cerberus. One thing is certain, even if that name is not his real name, he's been careful to avoid being caught or identified so we've got nothing on him. I've forwarded the files on him as well to you in that data package.

Garrus then sighed a bit and powered own his omni-tool and spoke to the Spartan.

"At any rate, those files are only what I can gather from the initial C-Sec investigation before we had no choice but to call it off before it got too much attention and draw heat from the Alliance who wants to keep things under wraps. For all I know, these files could be false leads or the real thing, but right now, there's too much red tape and regulations to mount a proper investigation, and without solid proof that can confirm all of this, there's no way to charge these people who are rumored to financially and logistically support Cerberus. This is all we could get and all I can send you."

John looked the data over and then spoke to Garrus.

"You stuck your neck out on this one didn't you?"

Garrus did the Turian equivalent of a human chuckle and replied.

"I know, I expect Executor Pallin to come to me on my shift and give me the full dress down as well as enough verbal lashing to last me three months. He might say that you have no business butting into a C-Sec investigation, but you were the target, so to me, you've got every right to know who sent those goons after you Chief. I got no doubt in my mind that Cerberus won't be the only group gunning for you either. You deserve to know in my mind and that is another reason I am going to get grilled by the higher ups once they get wind of this. And there is the big chance I might get suspended and put on house watch in my house in the Wards for the next three months."

John snorted.

"They're wasting good talent by locking you up in my mind."

Garrus nodded and replied.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Chief, but I'll be fine, at any rate, if anything else crops up that needs your attention, I'll send it to you when I can and hopefully avoid having myself become the verbal target board for the day.."

John nodded and that was when they parted from one another. John thought over the data that Garrus had handed him and Cortana spoke as they headed off to a different area of the Presidium.

"You know…I might start to like that Turian, so what's the plan in dealing with Cerberus John?"

"No idea yet, this Illusive Man is my concern, I've got no doubt they might have been the ones who planted those bugs on the Dawn two weeks before. That can wait for now, we need to head back to the Dawn and get some rest. There's no way we can risk staying here in the Citadel if Cerberus has agents here."

Cortana remained silent for a while and while that didn't bother John, he knew that when she was silent, she was up to something and after three minutes of silence from the A.I, he spoke to her.

"Something on your mind?"

"Yeah, I think we can try and see just how interested Cerberus is in trying to get us."

The A.I was intrigued and decided to venture a question to her long time protector.

"Let me see if I got that right, you want to be the bait for the three headed dog's agents?"

"Yes, if they think they're going to get the drop on me, then let them come, saves us the expense of chasing them all over the place."

Cortana chuckled at that and replied.

"It's risky and no doubt that they were not going to give up just yet. But what makes you so sure that we might get lucky and snare a high ranking agent of theirs to begin with?"

"We make our own luck, anyway, have you managed to get an idea where our watchdog is at the moment?"

"According to what I can see with my tap on the Citadel's security systems, she's off to report to the Council right now. You want to see what they are up to?"

"Maybe later, but have a recording of it if possible so we can plan ahead."

'So we're watching the watchdog…I can see the irony in that statement easily enough. Speaking of which, we might want to drop by the Embassy, I can see that Anderson's the only one there at the moment so Udina is not going to give you and me an earful while we pitch this idea to Anderson."

…

In the Citadel Council meeting area…

The three Councilors were currently facing Spectre Selena who had arrived to them and they were eager to get an idea of what the Spartan had in hand on the ship that their agent had seen as well as an idea on the ship itself and how it would compare. The first was naturally the Asari Councilor as she wanted to know what Selena had found.

"It is good to see you back and alive Spectre Selena and I am pleased to hear that you and the Spartan had helped escort Matriarch Benezia safely to Illium as she has sent her regards as well as her thanks for escorting her daughter, I take it you have some information pertaining to the Spartan during your recent observations of him?"

Selena nodded at that.

"Yes I do Councilors."

"All right, first what can you say about the ship he has under his command."

"It is a ship designed for warfare and warfare only, while it might not be as comfortable as most of the ships we know, it is very capable of combat as well as defensive battles. The alloy that composes it is both familiar and unique at the same time, from what I have seen, it uses a special form of Titanium as well as another type of alloy that seems to be quite different from regular ship plating. That coupled with it's shield generator which is different from the kinetic barriers we use on our ships makes t very strong yet it has remarkable agility as well."

The Turian Councilor then spoke to Selena.

" What of it's weapons?"

"I do not know as of yet the Dawn's exact armament but it is armed with two main cannons as well as other built in defensive weaponry. Added to the fact that I have not seen this ship in combat I have little idea of it's exact combat abilities, but judging by it's size and armor, it no doubt is very deadly."

"What else have you found out?"

"There are actual sentient machines on that ship that resemble the Hanar in form in some levels, however they do not resemble the Geth in any fashion. As far as I have seen, these creatures that the Spartan calls the Huragok live only to repair and study machines. They are remarkable creatures even though they are not organic by nature and seem to be quite intelligent, which the Spartan's A.I companion said makes these Huragok living super computers."

The Salarian replied.

"Living machines that are not like the Geth? What exactly are they?"

"They appear to be creations of the Forerunners from what I understand of them, they possess no combat abilities and abhor combat. They can repair and upgrade things at a rate that I find utterly remarkable. However, I doubt that the Spartan will part with any of them as they are small in numbers at the time when I saw them."

The Asari replied.

"A pity, but I am curious about something, was there any trace of E-zero on his ship?"

"None that could be found Councilors, the Dawn does not use any form of E-zero from what I have seen and seems to use a far different form of power."

"What of it's unique method of transportation?"

"From what I have seen, this Slipspace is remarkable, we were able to reach Illium in a very short span of time and without using Mass Relays. I will say that this Drive system uses physics that I have little to no idea about. It will take years and more for any Citadel scientist to make even a simple copy of it in my mind, and without access to some of the information that pertained to the physics, then making a drive like it with E-zero will a challenge."

The Councilors thought it over and gave permission for Selena to leave and she decided to take some time to contact her mother and see how she was doing. She moved to the Presidium and headed to a communications area and placed a collect call to the Asari home-world and soon she saw her mother.

"Good day to you mother, it has been some time."

"Ah, my little fire, it is good to hear from you after so long, I heard that you have been assigned to observe someone the Council wants watched…that being wouldn't be dangerous?"

"Not exactly mother, but he is quite capable, of that I can assure you."

"I suppose, still you are a Spectre and you have earned that title well, if only your father was still here."

Selena saw the sad expression easily on her mother's face and she also had a sad look.

"I know…I miss him too mother. But I think father would be proud to know that his little blue girl was making the galaxy a safer place."

Selena's Asari mother smiled at that and nodded.

"I know, anyway, well what you can tell without compromising your position as Spectre my dear, I need to know just who you got saddled with this time, I hope that maybe this person might prove to be a good match…"

Selena laughed a bit and spoke in an exasperated tone at her mother.

"Mother! I hope you're not suggesting I have a bond mate right now…"

"It's a thought, anyway, come tell me what you can tell."

…

In the Alliance Embassy…

Anderson looked over the amount and replied to the Spartan.

"You heard of Cerberus?"

"Yes, according to Detective Garrus, they were the ones who sent the hit team after me two weeks ago. He also gave me what he could find on Cerberus. How could a unit like that which was part of the Alliance go rogue?"

Anderson sighed a bit and replied.

"It was only a few days after the Battle of Shanxi so I was not very surprised that there were some on Earth and in the Alliance who would not take encountering hostile aliens lightly. Even after the Council got involved to broker the peace between the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, there was no guarantee that the damage had been forgotten. When Cerberus came to light, we tried our best to track them down, but they are smart, they don't keep their operations tied down for too long and they usually decentralize their command so they would not compromise the others."

John thought it over and sensed that the group sounded just like the Office of Naval intelligence or ONI of the UNSC. ONI had the task of doing what they could to maintain the UNSC's combat capabilities, technological prowess, intelligence sources and more. Though they were technically under the command of the UNSC Navy, they reported directly to HIGHCOM and commanded the navy's Fleet of Prowlers. They took anyone from the UNSC's Armed forces from the Army to the ODSTs and even some of his fellow Spartans along with civilians to further it's focus on intelligence activities.

Like Cerberus, the agents of ONI enjoyed a considerable deal of latitude and were allowed to break moral and ethical boundaries to achieve their goals, with these agents called spooks by regular UNSC military and civilians as well. Unlike Cerberus however, despite their possibly similar methods in some mission, the members of ONI were focused on doing what they could to defend mankind and keep it intact when rebellion broke out and when the Covenant war started.

And while the four sections of ONI, from Section 0 that handled policing the activities of the other sections and terminating illegal programs, to Section 1which handled information distribution as well as being the public face of ONI, Section 2 that handled propaganda and morale boosting for all civilian and military personnel in the UNSC, and Section 3 that dealt with top secret programs that included the Spartan II Program ,were not all treated with respect their efforts were critical in winning the war.

And ONI personnel gave their lives to defend humanity, as he recalled ONI Lieutenant Elias Haverson who did so willingly and his actions along with that of Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb severely weakened the Covenant forces that would have decimated and glassed Earth.

He however still saw them as terrorists since he knew that if their actions were ever brought to light, the Council races would easily turn on the Alliance and that would place Humanity in an even greater situation which would result in severe loss of life. While he could relate to some of their reasons…their methods did NOT endear them to him in any fashion.

"So no one has ever found the Illusive Man?"

Anderson shook his head.

"Afraid not…he's smart to not only run that group, but to also keep his hands clean, no paper or electronic trail. And I have no doubt that after seeing what you can do as well as the technology you happen to have on you and that ship, he's got his teams on you. And that makes me curious why you want to get their attention."

John snorted and replied.

"I want them to learn that this Spartan has a few tricks that are going to shut all of their mouths shut. The only question is, is the dog rabid enough to try and take a bite?"

Anderson smiled a bit and replied.

"After that stunt they pulled on you two weeks before, I am not entirely sure they want to try that, but if you want to try it then go ahead, though hopefully it will not be too much of a mess. I'll have to make some arrangements to get you a place to set that trap if they decide to bite. But if they don't then at least you can get some shut eye, and with Cortana guarding you, I doubt they'd get the drop that easily.

…

Later…

John entered one of the hotels that was in the Wards and was soon taking the time to rest while keeping an eye on things. He had sent a message to the Council that he was going to stay in the wards for the time being and told the Spectre that he would see her back in the Dawn the next day. He knew that it was a risk to say this stuff in an open communications line, but it was better to lure Cerberus with than letting them find out on their own. There was naturally a risk that they would ignore it, but that would only tell the Spartan that they were a lot more cautious this time around and would leave him be.

As for the place he was staying in, it was not exactly the most luxurious place to be in, but it was frequently used by a number of people who were not the kind to stay nailed down. They were not criminals in any sense, but more of people who happened to be the kind who had a lot to gain by being on the move. That meant traders, scouts, explorers and the like.

As he entered the hotel and was cleared, a number of people already present looked with surprise at the Spartan and already tongues were wagging. The mix of Turians, Salarians, Asari, and Humans hardly bothered the Spartan as he had other plans in mind. His room happened to be a fair distance back and this would allow the Spartan the chance to keep the civilians from getting dragged into the situation if at all possible. Anderson helped by having the whole floor where his room was sealed off. The hotel owner didn't like it, but chose not to argue that point the very second the Spartan walked the place.

As he arrived into the room, he got to relax a bit and readied himself to wait and see what Cerberus would do, no doubt Cerberus agents had gotten wind of his return and were no doubt watching his every move. He would let them do so, if they decided to attack once more, then they were going to find him more than ready for them. He might not have his more advanced arsenals with him and carried the weapons which no doubt was seen as primitive but functional, but that had never stopped him before in any fashion.

He only hoped that if they did make a move, someone high ranking in their organization was there for him to capture, alive if possible and interrogate as well. It was high time the interrogation methods Chief Mendez taught him got some much needed use after all. It would be a waste not to use those skills once in a while.

…

And sure enough, the Cerberus field agents were in the area and had been tracking the Spartan once they had indeed confirmed that he had returned to the Citadel. A previous attempt to track him had been made, but was cut short when they found that he was with a Spectre as well as Matriarch Benezia who had a great place in Asari society as well as having a large number of followers, in areas of religious, social, economic, and military sectors. That and the fact that she was a powerful Biotic as a Matriarch and her daughter being no push over either added to the idea of holding off another attempt when that idea was proposed.

As for Selena she was a bit of an enigma as they had no files on her as of yet and the fact that she happened to be skilled with weapons as well technology and Biotics made attacking her a risky move apart from being a Council Spectre.

One of the agents turned to another figure wearing a white and black outfit who was also looking through a set of scanners and spoke to the figure in question who turned out to be a woman .

"Do we make a move Ma'am?"

"Negative, we observe only, the Illusive Man wants him watched until we have more data on this Spartan, we are not to make a move until we have a chance that does not entail the same results as before."

"Understood."

As the others observed the building, the woman in question moved away and sat down on a nearby chair and leaned forward to think about this situation. They had acquired files on this Spartan and she had shown it to the Illusive Man before. She herself didn't believe it completely but she knew that the Asari never lie about genetic memories.

She knew that having the Spartan in Cerberus would be a massive boost in the plans of the Illusive Man, but she had some doubts that he was going to be easily convinced. His massacre of Shadow Team proved that point as well. They had to proceed carefully if they wanted to take this Spartan and convince him to join them. They had to find some way to capture him and when they did, they needed to convince them that he could help humanity better by being with them.

As for her…she had her doubts for the moment, but the Illusive Man wanted the Spartan watched for now and so she was going to do it. And if they found anything worth in the man himself apart from the technology he had with him, then it was going to be worth it in many ways.

It was then that another agent came in and spoke to her.

"Miss Lawson, the Illusive Man has sent some new orders. He has ordered the surveillance to be canceled for now, we are to pull back and reorganize the cells as there is a new series of projects we need to work on."

"All right then, let's pack it up people."

As the group packed it up to leave their base of operations on this mission, the woman turned to look at the hotel and decided that for now, Cerberus was going to stay away from the Master Chief. But they were not going to be idle for long when it concerned him. They were going to come back, and if she had her way, she was going to try a new mind controlling implant that the techs were working on, to see if that would convince the Spartan to side with Cerberus.

…

The next day…

John woke up and quickly scanned his room to make sure that nothing had happened that would mark as a danger to him as well as his equipment. He had slept in his Mark X on the bed which apparently had been upgraded to handle some species with weight issues. Cortana had naturally been keeping watch with a copy of herself in the hotel's database as well as their security cameras both in and out of it while she remained in the Armor on alert while John rested.

Most people would have removed their armor, but the Spartans were all right with sleeping in their MJOLNIR as it was not too bad a suit to sleep in. The A.I smiled as she spoke to him gently as she sensed his awakening earlier than he did.

"Come on cave-man, time to wake up."

John yawned a bit and soon got to his feet and he then spoke to the A.I.

"How long was I out?"

"At the regular eight hours of sleep, it should be morning already by Citadel time, let's go and see if we can meet up with our Spectre watchdog and see if we can get some information as well as find something to do before heading back to Reach."

"Right, anyone tried anything yet on us while we were resting?"

"If you think Cerberus or any other organization had made a move while we're here, not yet, they seem to be more intent on keeping their distance from us for now so we should be lucky and be happy we didn't get ourselves into a fire fight. The only things worth talking about are the number of guests who had been busy with OTHER actions."

The Master Chief grunted and replied.

"I don't want to know, come on."

The Spartan got out of the room while placing his hand on the nearby terminal to allow Cortana to get her copy, collected his weapons and head on out of the hotel that they stayed it as it seemed that the Cerberus organization had just decided to not go after him. No doubt they were taking a more cautious path and would make another attempt soon. However that they left the hotel after paying for the time there, the Spartan overheard a conversation between a group of people who were a few feet from him.

"No way, what kind of ship is that?"

"I don't know, all we know is that it was moving through the Hawking Eta area."

"That place…not many ships ply that area, but what sort of ship is it?"

"I don't know, it's not human made, nor that of the Turians, Salarians, or Asari, they certainly are not into making ships like this, and the color as well."

"Yeah, never heard of a ship that happens to be in the color of purple, not many people do that with their ships. It's just plain odd and the shape of it is even weirder too, elegant to be sure, but weird despite the damage."

John heard that and quickly turned and focused his attention on the group of people and headed there to get a visual of the ship they were talking about. He got a good look of it when the people were looking at the image before them as one woman who was the first speaker showed it.

John froze as he looked at the image before him, he knew that image of the unknown alien ship well enough. To the people of this universe this would be a new contact from, deep in the universe, but for the Master Chief, he knew that ship easily enough. He had seen it and it's kind more times than he cared to remember.

It was a Covenant Corvette…

He turned quickly to the Human scout and spoke in a gravely serious tone.

"Where did you last see this ship?"

The human turned to face the Spartan and couldn't help but feel some level of awe and fear as the Spartan was all business this time around as she and her partner had been discussing the odd sighting of this ship.

"It was in the perimeter of the Hawking Eta Cluster, last we saw it. We had no idea what it was but we were not sticking around to find out either."

"What was the ship's condition?"

The male Scout replied.

"We…didn't get close enough with our ship, but our probes did, and it was severely damaged, almost looked like it got thrown into a black hole or something. It was still moving about but at a very slow pace. We would have investigated it a bit more but if whatever force damaged it was still around the area, we didn't want to stick around if that force or whatever it was decided to come back and finish the job."

John could see that he was not going to get anything else from the people before him and he nodded as he left but not before speaking to Cortana.

"Looks like we've got a serious situation on our hands again Cortana, we need to get to the Corvette and track it down before it gets taken by other factions."

The A.I nodded and replied as she knew that this was serious situation before them. The presence of a Covenant Corvette in a universe was a great cause for concern. However she was confused as to how a Covenant ship had actually made it here in this universe in possibly the same way they had done no less than two weeks ago.

"It makes me rather curious about how such a ship actually managed to make it here in this reality though."

"We'll get our answers once we secure it and not by staying here, better contact Selena and tell her to get to the Dawn ASAP."

…

It was not long before the Spectre arrived at the docking area as the Spartan also arrived at the same time. Selena asked what was going on naturally and the Spartan replied that she was going to find out once they got to Hawking Eta. The Spectre was bit worried by that as Hawking Eta happened to be a fairly close location to the galactic core, a very dangerous place to be. But the Spectre was still curious as what was so important that the Spartan seemed to be…distracted.

As soon as the dawn was clear and the coordinates was typed into the Dawn's computers, the Spartan watched as the Dawn entered the Slipspace Portal while Selena came into the bridge to see just what was going on.

As soon as they arrived at the Hawking Eta cluster, John quickly began to run some calibration tests on the Dawn's scanners, with Cortana also working her best to triangulate something. Selena had no idea what was going on and it was not long before her patience in being kept in the dark wore thin and she spoke.

"What in the name of the Goddess is going on here?"

The Spectre was stared at by the Spartan and he finally replied.

'We encountered some scouts who were talking about finding an unknown ship in this system…and we happen to know what that ship is."

Selena was silent as she could tell from the way the Spartan spoke, he was not joking and she soon asked the question hanging on the back of her mind.

"What sort of ship are you…no, we chasing here?"

"A Covenant Corvette…"

Selena paled as that sank in, having seen the races of the Covenant and the horrors they inflicted on the UNSC as well as their weapons and technology, she was both worried and slightly exhilarated. The idea of meeting new races was exciting in itself. But that excitement was tempered by the fact that the race or rather races in question had committed horrors that were only matched in her mind to some level with the Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellions.

She calmed herself and spoke to the Spartan.

"Do you think it is a threat?"

"Possibly, but until we can confirm if the crew are Separatists or Loyalists, we have to be ready for anything. This is why I need you to be armed and prepared. If they fire, then we can be assured that they are hostile."

"What can you tell me of these…Covenant Corvettes?"

"They are the only Covenant ships not armed with Shield Generators, which renders them fairly vulnerable to our weapons, but they happen to be fairly agile and in truth are much larger than even the UNSC Frigate though the Dawn is much larger now than the regular Frigate. These kinds of ships are commonly used by the Covenant to insert advanced assault and recon teams as well as Special Forces for planetary infiltration and special assignments."

"They used a number of these units in attacking Reach before as well as many of our planets, and while they don't have shields, their plasma batteries are more than useful in ship to ship combat and with a number Seraphs and Banshee Interceptors to support them. If the crew are Separatists then we might have a chance but if they are Loyalists then we will have to be ready to destroy the ship. Any luck Cortana?"

"Hold on….yes, I'm picking up a faint trail of energy coming in that direction that is consistent with the energy trails left behind by Covenant Corvettes. But the trail is pretty erratic though, that's only happening on badly damaged ships."

'All right, let's go on and see if we can at least get a visual on the ship itself so we can identify it and make the right action. Have the Dawn's weapons at full power but fire only if it is identified."

"Understood John, hold on your hats, this is going to be a very interesting run."

…

The Dawn was soon chasing the trail of the Covenant Corvette with Cortana deploying several Clarion Spy Drones for an advanced recon run. It was therefore not long before Cortana was soon able to get a visual of the ship that they were chasing and she whistled at the images being sent back by the drones she had deployed ahead of the Dawn itself.

"What the heck happen to it?"

John and Selena showed the same question though only Selena's face spoke the unspoken question while the helmet hid John's face. Still the reason for the reaction of all three crew members in the Forward Unto Dawn was obvious.

The ship was undeniably a mess; it was still relatively intact but looked like it had sections of it torn off violently as well as leaks in the hull as well as the super structure. Whatever happened to the ship, it was certainly possible that it had been chaotic and the ship only survived by the barest of margins. This was something that John had to consider as he looked the ship over and then scan it for survivors. The ship had to have some of it's crew still alive in order to be even moving in any direction given the damage it had on itself and no doubt wearing EVA gear to survive if the ship's integrity was compromised in any fashion.

He then noted that the ship seemed to be in a course for the known systems, it would make some sense since the Covenant would be looking for human planets, but even a lone Corvette would be taking a suicide mission if tried to attack a colony they it was right now.

Selena then spoke to Cortana while not moving her eyes away from the vessel in question.

"How could that ting still be operational? Most ships would have been abandoned and then salvaged for part."

"The Covenant might reverse engineer the ships of the Forerunners, but they can make some strong ships out of those designs. However, the damage on that ship is not consistent with weapons from the UNSC. There are sings of damage from UNSC weapons, but the rest of it…doesn't match.

John then decided on a rather risky tactic to stop the ship and figure out just who was piloting it.

"Cortana, get us to do a close range Slipspace jump and get us in front of that Corvette."

The A.I looked at John and the look of surprise on her face was telling.

"You want to do what?"

"Trust me."

Cortana sighed and did just that as she activated the Slipspace Portal and soon the Dawn disappeared into the Slipspace Portal and soon reappeared in front of the Corvette, John had the shields quickly come online and power up the weapon systems of the Dawn and waited. The Corvette slowed down and seemed to be dead in the water. This told John that there might be something here that could prove useful. He and the others waited for a while to see how the Corvette would react to the presence of the UNSC/Forerunner hybrid warship.

John waited and so did Cortana, she was ready to fire the Dawn's weapons if it came to that and Selena watched, eager to see just how this battle might play out even though she was nervous as she had ever been in her life. It was then that some signal came out from the ship, Cortana began to translate and that didn't take long for her to do so. But when she did, she was shocked as she turned to John.

"Chief…you might want to hear this…"

John did so and soon was greeted by something he thought he would never hear in a very long time.

"This is Spartan-052 of the UNSC Army to the personnel of the Forward Unto Dawn, I am in need of rescue."

The voice was human all right, and there were two things that John was able to recognize, the first that it had a Hungarian tone to it as well as a certain accent as well that John quickly recognized as that spoke by native residents of the city of Palhaza on Reach. And the second was that he knew just who the person was as they had fought together more than once in their lives..

A Spartan II Commando just like him and a resident of Reach, he then spoke to the other Spartan II.

"Is that you Jorge?"

The voice replied back.

"Squad Leader? Is that really you?"

…

On the Dawn…

As soon as John had sent the Pelican to the Corvette , he got word from Cortana that Jorge was now boarding the Pelican and would soon be back on the Dawn. He knew that he had a lot to talk about with his fellow Spartan and was already trying to figure out how to best explain the situation Jorge had stumbled into like he and Cortana had done not two weeks before.

As a precaution since he had no idea just how his fellow Spartan might react to the sight of Selena, he told the Spectre to keep herself out of sight for now until he could have a word with his fellow Spartan. Selena wanted to protest but she knew that arguing with the Chief was something of a futile gesture and she knew that he had a good reason as his fellow Spartan might not look too kindly at her being on the Dawn.

As the Pelican landed in the Dawn's Hanger Bay, the doors opened and out walked a massive seven foot tall human in armor. It was not the same as the Chief's MJOLNIR armor as it was in a far different color scheme and appearance, but John recognized the MJOLNIR Mark V anywhere. He had heard that in order to field more of the Mark V and ease the burden on the UNSC manufacturing arm, the UNSC High Command had contacted private companies to not only make the Mark V but to also produce components that could improve it's performance and give it other options as well to ease the burden of funding.

Many variants were made for various roles and mission requirements, and while John had no love for anyone other than certified UNSC personnel making the MJOLNIR series, he knew that it was needed as the UNSC needed every credit it could get to fight the Covenant. He spotted the M247H Heavy machine Gun that he knew Jorge carried and he watched as his fellow Spartan reached him.

They looked at one another and then John did the 'Spartan Smile' and so did Jorge as they relaxed, though no one who was part of the Spartan II Program and the small circle of non-Spartans who were seen as friends and family would understand. Jorge then spoke to John.

"I never thought I'd see the day I'd see you again Squad Leader."

"Likewise Jorge, I thought we lost you at Reach."

"I know…she….she fell didn't she?"

John solemnly nodded and then replied.

"She did, but I think that we have a lot to talk about Jorge, how exactly did you get yourself stuck out here in a Covenant Corvette no less?"

Jorge took off his helmet and so did John and the massive Spartan Heavy Weapons Specialist of Noble Team replied to that.

"It was in Operation UPPERCUT sir, we were trying to sneak an unstable Slipspace Drive as a makeshift weapon on the Covenant Super-Carrier that was in the main assault. We lost a number of Sabres and the Savannah in the attack but it would have destroyed the carrier in the Slipspace rupture. In the op the timer was damaged and the Pelican's engines were damaged…so I stayed behind."

"I see."

"Begging pardon Squad Leader…but even if this is a UNSC Frigate, it's nowhere like the usual kind I've seen in the Fleet, what's going on?"

"It's a long story Jorge."

"I…what the hell?"

Jorge switched to Hungarian and armed his weapon while placing down his helmet and John quickly turned to see none other than Spectre Selena who had apparently come out despite his orders for her to stay out of sight until he could explain to detail what is going here. The Asari was shocked by the sight of his fellow Spartan and was reflexively readying her Assault Rifle before John got between them and shouted to Jorge in Hungarian.

"Stand down Jorge!"

"What? You can't be serious Squad Leader!"

"Do as I say Jorge!"

The larger Spartan paused but decided to do what John asked and John looked at Selena and spoke to her in English, the displeasure evident in his tone of voice as he spoke to the Asari.

"I thought I told you to stay away Spectre."

"I needed to know just what is going on here, I apologize if my intentions ended in a misunderstanding."

"That's no excuse…but there's not much for it now, put down your weapon."

"All right, but I will have to speak to your fellow Spartan to assure him that I am not one of the Covenant that you and he have fought with for years."

The Asari Spectre placed her Assault Rifle on her back as it folded away and moved towards the Spartans and as soon as she was close enough, Jorge was able to see her more clearly.

Jorge looked at the….thing before him, he was not angry just yet, only surprised and confused, when he saw the female figure in the red and black armor, he was wondering if there were others on this ship. But the second he saw the blue skin and the lack of hair, he quickly reacted and readied his weapon purely out of instinct. He would have fired had it not been for the swift order by John to stand down. He was confused at first but heeded John's order and lowered his weapon.

As the being came closer, the massive Spartan looked at her carefully and was utterly surprised at what he saw. The being looked utterly human in form, the only thing that told him that she was not human was her lack of hair, the odd flesh like parts that no doubt took the place of hair, the oddly shaped markings on her face, and her skin color. There was no way this being was a Covenant species, there was nothing in the UNSC records that concerned this kind of race.

Selena was now before the Spartan and she spoke.

"I am Selena of the Citadel Spectres, and a member of the Asari Race, I know why you reacted at seeing me, and I wish assure you that I am not a part of the races that make up the Covenant."

Jorge was confused by this and then turned to look at John and spoke.

"Squad Leader…can you please explain to me what is going on here?"

…

Later in the Dawn's bridge…

John, Cortana, Jorge, and Selena were in the bridge of the Dawn while the Constructors were currently repairing the badly damaged ship to make sure it was not torn apart if it entered Slipspace if the Dawn made it back to Reach once they headed in that direction, the Constructors were not alone as the Spartan had a group of Huragok sent over to initiate repairs in the ship itself as well as repair anything that could be of use. For now Jorge had a story to tell the Master Chief and Cortana as well as Selena.

He had told the Chief that when he was still in the Corvette, he had decided to get himself ready for death, but when he woke up he found the ship intact, he feared that it had not worked and managed to find enough energy to get his helmet back on and get his MJOLNIR's life support working, he had thought he was dead but he was indeed very much alive and had seen the sections of the Super carrier that was in the Slipspace rupture when the commandeered Slipspace Drive from the Savannah went off.

"I thought I died and when I woke up, I was still in the Corvette, so I salvaged what I could and tried to contact any UNSC ship in the area. Surprised to find myself far away from Reach so I had to get moving and rescue myself as well as find any survivors back on Reach. Took me a full three days to get that flying scrap heap to move at all after that trip through Slipspace, four days to keep her from blowing up and a week to get near a viable system to repair it, then a day later…you show up Squad Leader."

John nodded and turned to Cortana.

"Do you have any ideas on your end on how Jorge got here in this area of the galaxy, Cortana?"

The A.I nodded and replied.

"Some, keep in mind that our Slipspace Drives were not exactly stable to begin with if they were not set up right and we always assumed that the effects of ill placed drives would be death all around. That's usually true, but there may be a possibility that the effects of an improperly used Slipspace Drive don't result in death at times and could even be similar to what happened to the Dawn before. But this is all guess work since I have to review the data the Forerunners had on Slipspace and see if there is any mention of this, the Covenant based their drives on the Forerunner though they didn't unlock it's full power, and no doubt he Forerunner might have purged the data to prevent the Flood from using it too."

"The fact that the Slipspace rupture happened in system on Reach and near the magnetic field as well as Reach's gravity well might have something to do with it as well since the UNSC Navy usually don't attempt in system Slipspace Jumps, controlled or otherwise just yet. Jorge might have been alive since the Covenant does use special metals in making their ships to counter radiation."

John thought it over and then Jorge spoke.

"I hate to say this sir, but you still have to explain to me what is going on here."

"All right, but you might have a hard time accepting it Jorge."

Jorge smiled a bit and replied.

"I just survived death where others did not sir, I can take it."

…

Later…

Jorge was silent for the most part after John explained everything to him with Cortana showing the other Spartan II visual and audio proof to back up the story that his fellow Spartan was telling him, while the alien woman or whatever she called her race again stayed one side of the bridge, she was unarmed to show that she was not a hostile to him as well. It took some time for him to process all he had learned and then he spoke to the Master Chief.

"So let me get this right…we're in an alternate dimension completely like ours but the history and events are all different?"

John nodded and spoke.

"Believe me, I know how you feel Jorge, I've been here longer than you and I had to make some really big leaps of thinking to get used to the idea of being here myself."

"And the Covenant never existed as well as the UNSC?"

"Yes, there's something called the Citadel Council that has a number of alien races in it, though unlike the Covenant, they don't seem to have an agenda to exterminate humanity, with a few exceptions of course due to the Battle of Shanxi. The current human government that represents Humanity to the other alien races is the Systems Alliance."

"We aligned with them Squad Leader?"

"No we're not, right now the situation is pretty delicate for us here on the Dawn, there are organizations who would not hesitate to do what they can to get their hands on the tech on the Dawn and on Cortana. These will include human groups as well as alien ones Jorge, one group known to be a human supremacist force known as Cerberus made an attempt to capture me and no doubt would have tried to take the Dawn when it was in dry dock as well."

Jorge thought it over and replied as he leaned back before staring John in the eye.

'So we're independent Squad Leader?"

"In a way we are, we're still following the UNSC directives, rules and regulations however; our task at this point is to help keep the colonies of Humanity safe from possible attack. We may not be dealing with the Covenant Jorge, but that doesn't mean that Humanity has no enemies here. We've got pirates, terrorists, raiders, slavers, rebels, drug kingpins, and more. We've got the Batarians to deal with since they've got an axe to grind with Humanity, rogue elements in the Council races who will do what they want when they want and they care little who gets in their way, Human extremists who want to do what they can to cause discord and do what they can to make chaos rule, and who knows what else."

"We have plans to head back to the UNSC at some point Squad Leader?"

"We do, but until we can find a way to replicate what you, me and Cortana here, we're stuck here for now. So we adapt and do our part to keep this universe's Humanity safe. But we'll do it as Spartans, and we'll do it well. This might be a lot for you Jorge and I've got no problem if you have other plans, but I am happy you're here since I'll need all the help I can get."

Jorge was silent and then spoke to John.

"You don't need to ask me if I'll back you up sir, Chief Mendez taught us to adapt and survive, if doing this ensures we stay alive long enough to go back home, then I'm your man to the end."

John nodded and replied.

"Good then welcome to Blue Team Spartan, first thing though, if you're going to survive here, we need to head back to base and get your gear up to spec."

"Right, where's the base?"

"Reach."

Jorge's eyes widened at that and he replied.

"Reach? I thought…wait, are you saying that the UNSC worlds are here too sir?"

"Right, but they have not been found yet or colonized, so we have the advantage for now in terms of secrecy. Reach is there Jorge, but she's not been touched at all, it's like we've gone back home, but the house isn't there."

Jorge sighed but replied seriously.

"Doesn't matter sir, Reach is has always been good to me, and it's home no matter where it is, but I got two questions."

"All right, shoot."

Jorge directed his stare at Selena and spoke out his question.

"What about her? She may not be Covenant sir, but she's not a Spartan, or a member of the UNSC or even Human. Can we really trust her?"

John knew why Jorge asked that question and he could not blame his fellow Spartan from showing distrust. Selena understood that and walked over to the other Spartan and spoke seriously to Jorge.

"I assure you that I am not an enemy of your people, and my people are not responsible…"

Jorge replied to that.

"Don't get me wrong, I know you and your people are not part of the Covenant, because if you were, you'd be dead already. I just don't trust you, nor do I find the idea of any non-human setting foot on Reach appealing. The Reach here in this…universe might not be my home…but it is still the Reach I grew up in to me, and I've seen the Covenant burn and scar her and kill the people who called her home like I did."

Jorge stared down at Selena, allowing her to see his expression of seriousness and focus, coupled with the aura of a veteran warrior who demanded respect. He then spoke seriously.

"I want you to look me right in the eye and tell me that you will not breathe a word about the location of Reach to anyone who is someone we don't trust. Because if you do and they desecrate Reach, no matter what power you have, or skills that you have, I will kill you myself."

Selena could tell that this…Jorge was serious about his words, in fact this reminded her of the time she had to deal with the Master Chief back in the Citadel. She knew that he had reason, she had seen the Covenant butcher Reach in the memories of the Master Chief and she could not blame either of them for not trusting her or non humans in general.

"I swear that I will not reveal the location of Reach to anyone, even my superiors."

Jorge remained silent on that for a minute or two, searching for any trace of a lie in her face or eyes. Finding none, Jorge relaxed his stance and replied in a less hostile tone.

"Fair enough, if it matters to you, I can say that at least you and your race are a lot nicer to the eyes than the Covenant races I've met."

Selena smiled a bit and replied.

"I'm not surprised, my mother told me that my father said the same thing when they met."

Both Spartans shrugged and then the Asari Spectre decided to throw a surprise to them.

"By the way, just so you both know…there is a reason why I have a respect for humanity and why the Council sent me as their observer than someone else. My mother is an Asari, but my father was a human."

This got a reaction from both Spartans as Jorge spoke with some level of surprise.

"Come again?"

John then spoke as well.

"You're father was a human?"

Selena nodded and replied.

"It's a long story, but I assure you that I am not lying. If you want to know more, you both will have to start learning to trust me as well."

Cortana smirked and spoke in her own fashion.

"This is going to be good."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Here's a new one, and I hope that this will be enough to make some of the readers happy that John is not alone in this new universe. And to be perfectly honest with you, I hope that I can finally be given some peace and quiet about it.

The idea of adding other characters from Halo into this story was not in my plans until at a much later date since I needed time to plan out how to introduce them effectively. But since I have been getting a lot of requests to include some into the story, I decided to do so, much to my personal feelings of annoyance on having to accelerate my time table and plans for this story.

This action has cost me a good deal of research time and planning so this will be the only time I accelerate my plans in any of my work. I don't want to sound pissed off or anything…but I honestly am, so I hope that this is enough until I can get my work on the track I want and not be bothered about it.

Anyway, having Jorge in the mix will add some extra punch for the team as he will be the heavy weapons master of the pack which will help lighten the load for John. Also, his MJOLNIR Mark V will be undergoing some upgrades to allow it to compete with the new technology of the ME universe. And if you are going to ask, yes, the upgrades will have some level of similarity to the upgrades to John's Mark X, so we can call Jorge's new MJOLNIR version a Mark X as well. This will give him a good advantage when fighting Biotic users as well as dealing with situation where firepower alone will not be enough and having extra defensive power is a viable option though he will be using his Mark X's Shield Manipulation abilities differently than John would in combat.

Now if anyone asks me if I will pair Jorge with a female character from the ME universe, then I will keep at finding out a viable option on who that might be.

At any rate, this is the end of this chapter for now, I'll crank out another one soon so wait for it.


	6. Allies and a field test

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 5

Allies and a field test…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

Selena looked to see the massive planet that was before her…she had seen many a beautiful world before, but this one was in a league of it's own. The planet resembled Earth itself, but this planet was massive and had a different topography than Earth when she got the chance to look at the world her human father had called home. She looked at the strange field of magnetic energy that was there and resembled the fable Aurora Borealis that her father spoke of in his journals and the stories she had heard growing up before he enlisted as an Infiltrator in the Systems Alliance.

As the Dawn moved to the planet with the Covenant Corvette alongside it, the Asari noted the way the Spartans had fallen silent, they had taken off their helmets and were still staring at the planet before them until Jorge spoke.

"She looks the same…almost as if she never felt the touch of…those cleansing beams. I…"

John turned and replied.

"I know…I feel the same way when I came here on a hunch. "

Jorge nodded slowly as he looked at the land masses before him while John did the same thing as Cortana was currently guiding the ship with the Constructors acting as taps for her to control the Corvette while she was still in the Dawn. Selena looked at the world as they came ever closer while seeing the looks in the faces of the Spartans. As befitting what she had seen, the two men had kept their emotions away from their faces, but she saw that way their eyes looked at the world.

She ventured to speak to at least try to be in a line of conversation with the two men with her. Asari were social beings and they felt a lot more at ease when they were dealing with others and it was odd to be unable to relate to those with her. She knew that she had to be cautious when dealing with these men and it would be best that she asked carefully the questions in her mind.

"This world is beautiful…it's like the Earth the way my father talked about when I was still growing up."

The two said nothing at first until Jorge spoke.

"This world is more than beautiful…this is home."

"I see…I…I know that I should not say this, but I saw the destruction of this…world, at least the version of this world where you come from."

Jorge turned and replied seriously.

"How could you possibly have seen Reach burned? You were never there."

Selena replied to that.

"We Asari have the ability to meld with other species regardless of gender. Essentially we can attune our nervous system consciously, we then send and receive electrical stimulation from our partner's own nervous system, we become one with the other partner. My mother's people usually wind up being seen as being…promiscuous by other races because of this. But we happen to know that because we have a near millennium worth of life, we usually outlive our partners…just like my Asari mother outlived my human father."

."This ability also allows us to use the DNA patterns of our mates to randomize the desirable traits for new daughters to be born. And this also allows us to see memories at the genetic level. We usually do that only if needed, and I did this on your fellow Spartan to confirm his story to the Council."

Jorge listened patiently and then turned to John as he spoke to his new commanding officer, or rather, the undisputed leader of the Spartan IIs.

"Is all this true?"

John nodded.

"Every word of it Jorge, the Asari have that ability and trust me, it took me a while to get used to the idea myself."

"She knew everything?"

"Not everything, just the details which were in the need to know for the Council, everything else was on lockdown."

Jorge nodded at that for now as he went back to looking over this version of the world he once called home. Selena then spoke to the Spartans once more.

"So you established a base here…I guess it would be fitting in every sense of the word, still I will say that this world indeed very beautiful as well as vast, it's hard to imagine that such a pristine and lush world is not discovered and colonized."

John replied to that.

"It's better this way, and before you ask, you should know that this area of space happens to devoid of any Mass Relays of either type so this place is unexplored and also there is no way to communicate to the Council or even the Alliance itself as well as other parties in the galaxy. For all intents and purposes, Reach is located in what you can call a Mass Relay Dead Zone."

Selena was quick to understand the implications of those things, without any Mass Relays around for transportation and also communications, this area of space was pretty much blind territory to the Council. The situation was made more complicated as she was not able to gain access to the coordinates. She had no plans of breaking her word to the two men but she still needed to do her role as an agent of the Council.

…

As the ship began to reach a massive mountain range area the Covenant Corvette was left in orbit by Cortana as the A.I needed to find a viable place to house the Corvette to make sure that it got the much needed upgrades and repairs to make it a viable ship. The Spartans waited and soon the Spectre watched as the ship entered a large area in the mountains that seemed to have some sort of docking systems, which were somewhat similar to the ones used on the Citadel and other places that were equipped with docking facilities.

As soon as the Dawn docked in the area, the towers came online and soon covered the Dawn and the whole valley in a shimmering shield and soon Cortana spoke out.

"Docking complete and we are home."

John smirked a bit and placed back on his helmet while Jorge also did the same thing and they were soon leaving the ship with Selena in tow. As soon as they arrived in the exit, the anti-gravity gondola was now on it's way to pick them up, they boarded it and soon it took them to the exit area for the crew as the gondola could handle carrying at least a squad numbering at least twelve people. Jorge looked over the place and spoke to John himself who was now his commanding officer.

"So this is our new base of operations? I take it this is where we also started our lives as Spartans where we come from Squad Leader?"

"You got it right, we need to get to the base and get down to finishing the last of the base's perimeter defenses."

They moved past the docking area's defense point and were soon riding a Forerunner elevator from the docking area to the base itself.

He then turned to the Asari Spectre and spoke as they all headed into the base itself as the Spectre looked about as she took in the base's design while Jorge looked on in approval for the appearance of the base itself.

"There's enough room here for at least a thousand people if you are curious as to how many people can be housed in this base and there are plenty of defensive systems as well. There are also a considerable number of defensive machines as well."

Before Selena could ask what that meant, she got her answer as a number of Sentinels of the basic variety came to the group and they scanned the three. They briefly scanned the Master Chief as they were familiar with him, but they took longer scanning Jorge. They turned to face Selena and scanned her as well. She briefly felt fear in her as she thought that they were going to shoot her until Cortana appeared from a nearby holo-emitter. She had actually downloaded herself from the Dawn into the base's command and control center and was now in the base.

"Don't worry, the Sentinels have been programmed by me to confirm that you are not a hostile. However, the very second you do something that they deem as hostile…well I'll let you figure that out for yourself.

The A.I smiled a bit and John sighed slightly at that as Selena nodded. She could tell that despite the smile on the A.I's avatar, Cortana was dead serious about her words and while she was not sure what to make of these Sentinels, she knew that these were not machines that she should ignore for any reason.

"I understand what you mean; I'll do my best not to cause trouble."

"All right then."

The Sentinels were soon done and flew off to oversee any maintenance work as well as defensive work in the base as well as other sections of the base itself. As the three looked at the base, Jorge gave a slight sigh and spoke to the Master Chief.

"You made it just like home…I don't know what to think of right now."

"I know, the sleeping area is still in the same place as before Jorge, I need to take care of some other matters for now so I'll be in the science area for now."

As John left the two alone for the time being as he knew that Cortana was going to be keeping an eye on the base itself, Jorge then decides to do what he felt and that was get some much needed rest. After all, he had been working for at least a week and a few days to get that corvette working and even Spartans needed some shut eye. He turned to the Asari and spoke to Selena seriously.

"I'll be leaving you for now, but keep your promise to follow the rules in mind, remember, we're watching."

With that, Jorge left to get some much needed sleep and Selena was left to her own devices. She looked about and examined the base itself carefully, normally she would be thinking as a Spectre about how to best identify things as well as locations that could help her escape, but she kept in mind that she was not in any danger as of yet, and while the Spartans and the A.I did not trust her completely, they did trust her enough to let her stay.

And her practical side did point out that she no means of transportation or communications and she had no idea on how to work the technology on this base even if they were made by humans. The UNSC never used E-zero or any of the technology that she knew of from her mother's people or her father's people so their technology was totally alien to her despite her seeing a great deal of human handiwork.

It was that Cortana spoke to her via the base's communications network though she kept herself out of sight which naturally startled the Asari as she had gotten used to seeing Cortana's avatar and hearing her voice while not seeing the A.I was a bit disconcerting. Cortana picked up on that and decided to assure the Asari that everything was all right.

"Sorry for the surprise, I guess I should send one of the Sentinels to accompany you while the guys get some much needed sleep. Normally I'd prefer John for company but he's busy with other matters for the time being. Besides, I can always move about and help him whenever he calls for me. SO in the meantime, I can take you in a small tour through the base."

Selena smirked a bit to the A.I as she could guess that Cortana could still see her after all.

"But not to the places that are sensitive right?"

"Right on…hold on."

Selena waited and one of the Sentinels she had seen came towards her, a glowing part of the machine then released a copy of Cortana's avatar and soon the A.I guided the Asari through the base while Cortana naturally kept the Asari from going to the areas that were off limits and one of them being where John was right now. The Spartan was currently downloading some information into the base's computer banks and Cortana who was still in the base's main system was already working on the data to see where they could advance the technology.

Being in more places than where she really was, did not stress Cortana at all and she decided to guide the Asari into the place that she convinced John to make. The place where the Asari can at least see the people who John had a great deal of respect and trust for, as well as the ones he considered family and friends as well as equals.

…

In the location in question…

"Where are we?"

Selena asked as she found herself in another part of the base that she had not been to yet, it was something of a surprise as this location was rather different from the rest of the base and that surprised her a bit.

Cortana's avatar smiled as the Sentinel stopped as she replied.

"This is a place that I asked John to have made…this is the place that serves to remind him, and myself of the things we….left behind when the war with the Covenant and the Flood came to a close. To remind us of the people who did much and came so far to see the end of a war that nearly drove Humanity in our reality to extinction."

Selena was silent at this and soon she watched as the last door opened and the two of them were in the room.

The Asari looked at the statues that were there in the hall and made from what appeared to be some sort of hard synthetic substance. The detail however was so well made that it was impossible to tell them from being non living constructs to actual people. The people there appeared to be military members judging by their uniforms and the weapons they had on their person. The only exception was a woman in a lab coat who was usually working on a small portable laptop and seemingly typing on it.

She moved to the first statue and there was a hard man in a uniform who had a set of scars on his face and a stern military visage that demanded respect from anyone. She looked at the nearby plaque on the statue and there was a name and rank as well as a brief description.

'Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez.

UNSC Navy/ Naval Special Warfare Command

Trainer of the Spartan II Program

'Your Team Loses, you lose. You don't win until your team wins.'

Selena turned to Cortana and the A.I replied to the unspoken question.

"He is the training leader of the Spartan IIs, including John, Mendez happens to be a high ranking military man and has a number of awards to his name and is a by the book man of integrity and honor He might seem like a monster to most people who are not part of the Program for the way he trained John and the others when they were still six, but your best off not insulting him either."

'Why is that?"

"Well, John and the other Spartans see Chief Mendez as an immovable and ever present force in their lives back then, to the point that they respect him as a father figure. He's a veteran of the Covenant war as well so you will not find anyone tougher than him. All of the things John has done as well as his tactics were taught to him by this man."

Selena nodded as she studied the statue carefully, after a while she directed her attention to the female statue nearby that was the woman with the laptop and she read the plaque.

'Dr Catherine Elizabeth Halsey

Civilian Employee of ONI, Designer of Third Generation Smart A.I

Founder and head scientist of the Spartan II Program

Head of the MJOLNIR Armor Series

'Great minds think alike'

Selena spoke at this point concerning this woman before her as she could tell that she was not a military person.

"She was the one who started all this I suppose?"

Cortana replied to that.

"Yes, Dr. Halsey was the head of the Spartan II Program as well as the MJOLNIR Armor series and she also created me and many other as well. Many the Spartans respected Dr. Halsey and called her Ma'am as a sign of respect. In fact, most of them, including the Chief see her as a mother figure. And she also does her best to make sure that they are given enough of a chance to adapt to this kind of life. She's also the only civilian that the Spartans will take orders from, anyone else would only be wasting their breath. I personally have a good reason to thank her, you see, I never told you what makes me different from regular A.I. A.I technology is not a very big secret in the UNSC though there is the rule to make sure no A.I is captured or destroyed by the Covenant, we Smart A.I are different from the you use."

"I can see that, but why are you called Smart A.I?"

"In the UNSC, we have two classes of A.I, the Dumb which are like the V.I that is used by the races in this galaxy of yours. And we have Smart A.I like me, the difference between us and the Dumb is that the second group has been programmed to do only a certain task and objectives that are wired into the data processing matrix. As for us Smart A.I, we have no limits to learn and we can do many things normal beings can do, intricate calculations, planning, problem solving, and more. We can actually learn and grow with more and more data which in turn gives us a greater level of potential than the regular ."

"This is because we Smart A.I are created from a dead person's brain, so in hindsight, we're the person's mind and 'soul' if you will, made into data."

THAT got a reaction from the Asari as she looked incredulously at Cortana and her next words cemented the fact that she was unable to even grasp it yet.

"WHAT? How…How is that even possible?"

Cortana replied to that calmly, after all, there was nothing wrong about that in her mind.

"In the UNSC, we created Smart A.I by taking out a dead being's brain and used a process which is called Cognitive Impression Modeling. This is a process where the brain of a deceased person is scanned and then electrical bursts are sent through its neural pathways to download the data into a special data core matrix. This destroys the brain though at times we use Flash Cloned brains if the person is still living. It's a very inefficient and expensive process as the brain is naturally destroyed and it can fail due to certain factors. But the results are very much worth it even before the Covenant showed up to fight the UNSC."

"For me, I was created from twenty Flash Cloned brains from Dr. Halsey and from the data gleamed from my A.I 'sister'. This naturally makes Dr. Halsey my mother if you will. Most if not all like me have a greater range of abilities and can learn new ones, though this…can be a double edged sword."

Selena was still trying to grasp the idea of Artificial Intelligence constructs being made from the brains of other living beings. Such a concept of actually using a brain from a former living being to create and A.I as well as cloned brain was something that no one had ever thought possible in any race, even the Batarians would never try something like that. However she decided to figure out what else Cortana was going to say.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Smart A.I like me happens to possess a built in limit of existence, which is seven years. You see, we learn at such a fast rate and store so much information that eventually we suffer feedback loops and lose more and more information space. We in essence think so hard that we no longer function the way we do. It's comparable to a living being thinking so much that they actually 'think themselves to death'. It's called Rampancy and it's the A.I equivalent of Insanity and that's the worst thing to happen. Dumb A.I's are not affected by it so they are very much free from the dangers."

Cortana then explained what Rampancy was to Selena in greater detail and in Selena's mind it was a terrifying thing to learn. However Cortana then explained that the UNSC scientists usually had ways to know if an A.I is rampant and how to counter that very same threat and they were usually terminated. She was subject to that same rule and admitted that she had actually been Rampant, however she had something that kept her stable…or rather someone and Selena easily guessed who that was.

"It was your Spartan who kept you stable?"

"Oh yeah, the big guy and I have been together for a long time, I might tease him a lot, but I trust him with my existence, and he trusted me enough to actually risk everything for my sake. He might not show it, but he's fairly sentimental. Plus that drive of his is exceptional along with his ability to keep his promises. Personally I find him attractive, in a primitive animal sort of way."

Selena raised an eyebrow at that and moved on to the next statue, this one had a man who carried what she suspected were the rank markers of a high ranking officer, namely a Captain. The man had a serious face as well as what she saw was actually a corn cob pipe, something that was considered a rarity in Earth. She looked at the plaque to find out who it was.

'Captain Jacob Keyes

UNSC Navy/ Captain of the Pillar of Autumn

Brilliant Tactician and Inspirational Leader, Dedicated to the safety and defense of the UNSC even in the face of death.

'Stow the bellyaching soldier, remember you're a leather neck.'

Cortana spoke to Selena as she was still looking at the statue.

"Captain Keyes was our commanding officer after the fall of Reach, and we lost him in the battle with the Covenant and the Flood as well. But he never broke and give up anything that would have spelled the doom of the UNSC and Humanity, even in the face of death itself. His daughter was the one who took the award for his sacrifice."

"And I take it that the statue next to him is his daughter?"

And sure enough, there was a statue of a woman who was also in a military uniform and carrying a pair of SMGs and the Asari noted that the woman was actually rather attractive and seemed to have some vague similarities to the A.I who was accompanying her right now, but she placed that aside for the time being as she knew there would be time to ask questions. Selena looked at the plaque that was there as well to see this woman and learn what she could.

'Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes

Human Commanding Officer of the Joint UNSC/Covenant Separatist strike force

Commanding officer of the In Amber Clad and The Forward Unto Dawn. Confirmed KIA in the closing battle of the war between the Covenant Loyalists and the UNSC/Covenant Separatists, killed by the Prophet of Truth.

'To War'

"She must have been an impressive person to be the one to lead the final assault."

Cortana chuckled a bit and replied with a smile.

"She was, she spent all her life in the front lines, not only to defend humanity to the best of her abilities, and skills, but to prove that she was her own person. Because of her father's reputation and skills, she had to deal with accusations of nepotism for most of her career. But no one could deny that she was one of the best officers the UNSC had. They called her the 'ballsiest officer in the Fleet' and while it was entirely a compliment, there was no denying the fact that she was the bravest one we had, just like her father."

"How did she die?"

"Shot in the back by a madman…or mad alien if you want a better way of saying it who had delusions of grandeur and power."

The Spectre looked at the next statue and it was a man who had dark skin and wore a set of olive green body armor that was made from ceramic plates. The man carried a massive rifle in his hands which the Spectre had no doubt was a Sniper Rifle of sorts, she had used many but never saw any that was this massive. And there was some sort of heavy weapon that the man carried on his back that was no doubt an anti-armor weapon. The man wore a cap and had a grin on his face which spoke of confidence and bravery as well as seriousness and dedication, all the while, chomping on cigar.

She then looked at the plaque as well.

"Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson

UNSC Marine Corps

One of the most recognized Marine Veterans of the War, highly skilled Sniper specialist as well as Anti-armor specialist and NCO.

Served in the War until the very end in the Battle of the Ark and saw the defeat of the Covenant Loyalists with the death of the Prophet of Truth, confirmed KIA, by the actions of a Rampant Forerunner A.I Construct in the final assault to end the Flood threat to the galaxy once and for all at the end of the UNSC Covenant War.

'Don't make me rip off your arms and beat you to death with them!'

Selena looked at the statue and Cortana spoke next.

"Johnson was one of the best soldiers in the UNSC, he saw the war from beginning to end and made sure to do everything he could to help win the war. He was a bit eccentric, but he was among the very few people that John respected and called a friend. He was one of the toughest Marines both the Chief and I knew of and one we could count on."

"He died a hero didn't he?"

"That he did."

The Spectre continued to see the statues there in the room, this ranged from the man named Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood who was the official leader of the UNSC during the war, and who had a large degree of respect and trust for the Master Chief and his fellow Spartans. The Asari actually found the words spoken by the man to one of the Spartan IIs detractors, one Colonel James Ackerson rather amusing. Cortana managed to find this file and kept it with her for her personal preference and use at a much later date.

'Doctor Halsey and her Spartans deserve the **utmost** respect, Colonel. And if you wish to keep your newly acquired position on the Security Council, you will show them that respect, or I will personally kick you from here to Melbourne. Those "freaks" have more confirmed kills than any three divisions of ODSTs and have garnered every major citation the UNSC awards. Those "freaks" have personally saved my life twice, as well the lives of most of the senior staff here at HighCom. Keep your bigotry in check, Colonel. Do you understand?'

She also looked at the statue of the posthumously promoted Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole, one of the most decorated Naval officers of the UNSC Navy, who had been instrumental in many battles with the Insurrection and eventually with the Covenant at the start of the UNSC-Covenant War and had actually defeated a massive Covenant Fleet with the action of actually creating a Brown Dwarf Star from a nearby gas giant with a hundred nuclear warheads alone while the rest of his Fleet retreated.

Such an act was mind boggling to the Asari, but the story of this human officer who had fought with the Covenant to the bitter end was impressive. Even more so when she read the records of what had been recovered from Cole's last two transmissions to the Covenant when the reinforcing Fleet came to fight the UNSC after two of their fleets had been hit hard by the man's own Fleet and Cole had sent the rest of his surviving fleet home to face the Covenant alone in his command ship.

'Listen to me, Covenant. I am Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole commanding the human flagship, Everest. You claim to be the holy and glorious inheritors of the universe? I spit on your so-called holiness. You dare judge us unfit? After I have personally sent more than three hundred of your vainglorious ships to hell? After kicking your collective butts off Harvest - not once - but twice? From where I sit, we are the worthy inheritors. You think otherwise, you can come and try to prove me wrong.'

And when he had lured them to the gas giant and they were unable to harm him, he sent this message before meeting the end.

'Is that the best you can do? Watch what one unworthy human can do!'

She learned from Cortana that in all his battles with the Covenant for five years, Cole had taken down a total of 324 Covenant ships of various classes with the vast majority of the ships he destroyed were in his dramatic 'Last Stand'. That in itself was an utterly impressive feat in the eyes of the Asari and she could now see why the Spartan would honor such a man. He death was seen as of the hardest blows the UNSC ever suffered and the day of his death was a day of mourning though it was speculated that he had survived the battle somehow.

This was surpassed by the combined efforts of the Master Chief, Cortana, and handful of rescued Spartans and UNSC personnel including Johnson and the next batch of statues that the Asari Spectre had seen. These statues included ODST Corporal Locklear, Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, ONI Lieutenant Elias Haverson, and Warrant Officer Shiela Polaski. The results of Operation FIRST STRIKE had resulted in the deaths of these people as well as a small number of Spartans but the devastation of a 500 strong Covenant Fleet and destroyed over 488 ships of various designs and the loss of a critical supply, command and control, and logistics support battle station known as the Unyielding Hierophant, which to the Asari's amusement and Cortana's was named an uneven elephant by Avery and called to resemble two squids kissing by the man as well.

The ruse that cost both Elias and Danforth' lives had taken down the force that would have easily decimated Earth and the UNSC and spelled the end of Humanity, and his words reflected well the Vice Admiral's sacrifice and that of the Lieutenant well.

'Now listen, son, remember when we talked about the Alamo. You know every one of the brave defenders in those fights died. They knew the odds, but they hurt the enemy. Both were tactical defeats, but in the end they were also brilliant strategic victories. They made the enemy afraid. Just a few good soldiers fighting for what's right made the difference.'

…

Later…

As they left the room, Selena had developed a greater deal of respect for this UNSC as she was soon able to correlate what she had learned and what she had seen when she had melded with the Spartan to confirm his story. This version of Humanity had given up much to ensure that they would not be wiped out all because of madness and lies. Even when they were outnumbered and out classed in technology, ships, weapons and more, the UNSC refused to bow down and submit to extinction. They had fought without hesitation and endured losses that would have reduced other races to despair, and would have broken in her opinion even the veterans of the Krogan Rebellions.

This was due to the Krogan being one race and even though they had rapid breeding cycles before the Genophage changed all that, they could not muster the sheer numbers that the Covenant posses, nor the pool of specialists from various races as well. In a way, the Battle of Harvest did indeed mirror the Battle of Shanxi between the Turians and the Humans, but here, the Citadel Council had put a stop to it, there in the dimension left behind by the two men and their A.I companion, all of the Covenant sought to crush and exterminate Humanity and they were all united to destroy the UNSC until the Civil War.

She wondered what would have happened had the Council instead supported the Turians' plans for war with Humanity than putting a stop to the potential galactic war. It would have been a mirror to the UNSC Covenant War though never in the scale that would match at all. She also wondered if that would have placed her parents at odds with one another and she would have to see them fighting.

Selena then placed such thoughts aside as thinking too much would not benefit her. The events of the universe where the UNSC, the Covenant, and the Flood existed were totally different from the events that shaped her own universe. Still, there were plenty of lessons and parallels there that made her very happy that things had turned out the way they did in her universe, and there would be lessons that the Citadel could learn from what she had learned as well as what the Alliance could learn from as well.

One thing was never to be doubted in the mind of the Asari, these Spartans deserved to have their own say and the UNSC was to be respected. And she had no doubt that her father would have been utterly impressed by them. As she and Cortana went back to the rest of the base, John came back and they were soon joined by Jorge and had a meal and this allowed her to study the Spartans in a more relaxed atmosphere, though she had no doubt that they were watching him also.

…

Two days later…

The Dawn was on it's way to the Citadel as John decided that now was a good time to see if the Alliance was going to send it's representatives to act as their observers. He had no doubt that the Alliance were going to be doing all that they could in order to get their chance to talk to him and they no doubt would do anything they could in order for him to change his stance about being an independent force. He was not entirely surprised by that but he wanted to make sure that if and when he would meet the heads of the Alliance, he would be able to make his stance a bit more serious.

Jorge was nearby with his newly made MJOLNIR Mark X Armor, it was not the same as his own as it still had the same design as the Mark V MJOLNIR variant though the Armor had less surfaces to grapple for enemies who might be able to get close enough to Jorge to engage him in close combat. The new Mark X was conditioned to follow Jorge's old Mark V in color scheme and build as well as a focus on armor and strength befitting his focus on being a user of heavy weapons.

The Spartan looked at the massive Citadel and replied,

"Not bad…makes most of our ODPs look puny, so this is the Citadel, the home of the Council in this reality sir?"

"Right, we need to keep our eyes open and our ears ready for anything Jorge, remember what I told you about some of the factions around here that want to get their hands on the technology we have."

"I know, this Cerberus are not the kind of people I would like to meet, but I can bet other groups will be interested in getting their hands on our tech as well."

"I'm not arguing that, but the majority of the races here happen to not be hostile, but keep your eyes out for Turians with a grudge."

"Roger that sir."

It was then that Selena walked into the bridge and she seemed to be a lot better off at the moment, she was eager to give her newest report to the Council. She was happy to see the Citadel and when she had the time, she was going to get a chance to chat with those she considered as her allies and friends in the Citadel. She smiled warmly at the sight of the Citadel and this was not lost to Jorge, however the Spartan kept his words to himself.

As soon as the Dawn docked, the Spartan disembarked though with Jorge not being too happy with the idea of leaving behind his new M248 Gauss SAW GPMG in the Dawn and carrying only a MA6A Gauss Assault Rifle which while a lot more powerful than a standard MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle felt like a toy in the Spartan's hands.

This was due to Jorge's preference for heavy weapons and while John would have preferred to have Jorge carry his trademark heavy weapon, he knew that seeing Jorge carrying such a weapon was going to really cause problems for him and the others at C-Sec would go ape and who knew how much of a riot the weapon would cause when seen by the people in the station. The very second the Master Chief and Jorge appeared, the people in the area were quickly speaking and looking with a variety of emotions on their faces, most of which were understandable as seeing two Spartans walking together was not something most people were used to seeing in the Citadel in any given day, some of the C-Sec officers there were all shaking their heads.

As the group moved through the Presidium, they were soon greeted by a trio of Krogan, apparently this group had a plan of some sort that involved the Spartans as the three aliens were eyeballing them intensely, this was not lost to either of them as Jorge spoke.

"I see three Krogan looking at us sir, looks like they want to pick a fight."

"I see them Jorge, we'll need to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, but let's see if they are going to do something about our presence here."

Jorge agreed as despite his still lingering distrust with non-humans, the fact that the majority were not shooting at him and were unarmed with the exception of those who were part of this C-Sec that served the functions of a military style police force, was a good thing. Besides, there were humans here as well and they were not armed and in no way was Jorge going to involve civilians, even if they were non-human in a fire fight. So far the Krogan had not made a move, showing that they were no doubt having plans of their own concerning the Spartans.

As they arrived in the Presidium, Selena told the two Spartans as well as Cortana that she was going off to the Council to give her report and told them to be careful. Apparently the Spectre had seen the looks that were directed at them by the Krogan and she hoped that they would be all right. She knew how deadly the Krogan were in a fight and the last thing she wanted was both John and Jorge to get into a very dangerous situation without any support for either of them, though she kept in mind that they were not the kind to be easily caught off guard either.

…

In the Embassy…

Udina was currently reading the incoming reports as well as the complaints that were coming to his desk, and he mentally screamed in annoyance at the fact that in these reports, things were not looking good at all. There were also more than enough things on his plate to consider and having a lot of other matters that had to be resolved in the background did little to make his day any more pleasant. Anderson was also working with the Alliance High Command in a communiqué with Admiral Steven Hackett, all in all the two men were quite busy, so when the doors opened and in walked the Spartans, they were surprised.

The two were even more surprised to suddenly see another behemoth in armor that was next to the Master Chief and that was more than enough to make them drop everything as both Spartans saluted Anderson as he moved to face the men while Udina moved forward. Anderson returned the salute and spoke to the Spartan he already was familiar with.

"Good to see you Master Chief, but I have to ask, who's the one with you?"

"I believe I can speak for myself."

John nodded as Jorge spoke to Anderson while removing his helmet.

"Spartan-052, formerly of Noble Team, and now part of Blue Team, but if you want a more simple title, I am Chief Warrant Officer Jorge."

Anderson looked at the man to figure out what he can of this new Spartan, he was massive, muscular and certainly a heck of a lot larger than the average man. In fact, he would have made a hell of a football player with that massive frame of his. The face had a beard and a moustache and a number of small but ever present scars on it as well. This man had the same aura as the Master Chief as a veteran warrior who had seen a lot of action as well as a lot of things that would have broken lesser men. In other words, a rock solid veteran who is not the kind to ignore or insult, but the kind to listen to and respect, someone that Anderson himself could easily see being a deadly foe and a valued ally.

As he stepped back, Udina looked the man over and he was curious as to who this person is, though he kept himself focused on other matters. However, as a politician he was quick to see that there was something of an ulterior motive for the arrival of the two men. Plus he had a feeling that this new Spartan didn't just appear out of thin air. There was something here that needed to be addressed first and now was a good a time as any.

"As much as seeing you here is a surprise, I have a feeling that there is a reason you are here Spartan, and another thing no doubt concerns your…fellow Spartan?"

John nodded and spoke to the two men.

"I came here to see if the Alliance has already made it's choice on who will be their observers. It's already been at least three and a half weeks since I last came here. As for Jorge's presence, this might take a while."

…

As for Selena, she was soon talking to the three Council members about what she had learned from the base of the Spartans. The Councilors were not too happy that they were not able to get an exact idea on where the base itself was located so they could at least know where to find the Spartans. However, Selena assured them that the Spartans had ample reason for their desire to keep their location a secret from anyone.

They also asked about the reports of another Spartan who had been told to them by some of their own agents in the Citadel. Selena told them as much as she could from what she had been able to learn from the man in the three days she had been among the Spartans. She told them that there was a bond of trust that was between the two Spartans and that told her that they had known each other for years and were quite capable despite not seeing them together in combat herself.

Hearing that the world was known as Reach and the planet was an un-colonized world had been more than enough to get a reaction from the Councilors, namely the Turian who complained that allowing the Spartans' uncontrolled and unmonitored access to an unknown world's resources and more, or even an entire system was unacceptable. Even the Asari and Salarian Councilors were not too pleased by this as the idea of only two men being the sole residents of a world like that. So it was hardly surprising that the Councilors, the Turian most of all, requested that Selena convince them to set up in a location that was more in line with the areas under Citadel jurisdiction so they could be monitored in a more stable setting. However, Selena then explained the significance of Reach to the Spartans to the Councilors.

She told them of the Fall of Reach, specifically the Reach that was there in the Spartans' reality and how it had been their home, the world of their 'birth' as Spartans and how important it was to them and not just the to UNSC. She explained that in her previous melding with the first Spartan, she had seen the fall of their universe's Reach and how the once beautiful world had been turned into a smoldering ruin of fire, toxic gases, glassed soil, bodies, wreckage, and ruins. And she felt that literally hundreds of thousands of people had died there on that world, including many of the Spartans who died to defend their 'home-world'.

She explained that the last memory she had seen from the first Spartan before seeing the other events was him staring at his home world being burned into nothing by the Covenant and feeling the white hot rage that threatened to erupt from the man at the sight of it all. Selena also stated to them while the two men knew that the Reach here was not their own home-world, she saw in their eyes a look that was similar to a man coming home to seeing a home and meeting parents he had not seen for years. As they entered the world's atmosphere, she saw the beauty of this planet that the men called with a measure of respect and affection as home even if they knew that it was not their own home.

And from the way Jorge had threatened her, she surmised that while they were not entirely hostile to the non-human races in this reality, the memory of their home-world being put to the torch was still fresh in the minds of both men. So they would no doubt find the idea of anyone in the Citadel races or out of it that were non-human, setting foot on the exact copy of their now destroyed home-world would have a negative effect on the men, or even make them relive their past and make them hostile.

The Turian Councilor refuted that and reminded Selena that despite these things the UNSC did not exist and by all rights, Reach was a world that was open to be taken by any race or faction and not to be claimed by two humans despite their differences. Selena disagreed and pointed out that while his arguments made sense, the fact remained that she had no idea just where Reach was as the Dawn had used Slipspace and she knew that since they had no idea how the technology even worked so there was no way to know where the ship would go as only the Spartans and Cortana knew how it actually worked.

The next was that the Spartans had a routine of scanning every nook and cranky of the Dawn from the outside to inside for tracking devices after jumping to a totally unknown area of space. Once the Dawn had been cleared of any tracking devices, they would go to Reach. And the system where Reach was is what was known as a Mass Relay Dead Zone and as such, there were some serious problems with trying to locate Reach's exact position in the Milky Way.

The Salarian and Asari Councilors guessed accurately that it meant that there were no Mass Relays of any kind there in the system and Selena confirmed it as she had been able to shown that there were no Relays anywhere in the system or at the borders. This meant that there was no way to communicate to anyone in the galaxy in that sense and with no exact idea how to track the Dawn, there was little chance of Reach being found.

The Spectre also pointed out that the fact that they had allowed her to even set foot in their base of operations is a significant show of trust since they still distrusted non-humans considerably. This meant that if the Spartans develop a level of trust towards the members of the other races here in this reality, they would be more open to trusting the Citadel as a whole. Any action that would show an intent to encroach on what they do not trust others with would destroy any semblance of trust the Spartans had for the Citadel and may even make them hostile and she had seen a great deal of utterly alien technology there in that base.

When asked if they had members of the Alliance, there, she replied that there were none, though the Spartans were in the process of talking to the Alliance to inquire if they have their own representatives already.

It took a while and while the councilors were not too pleased with her reports, they agreed that she had done well, and if she was right, then respecting the rights of the Spartans was their best bet on showing that the Spartans could trust and work with the Citadel.

…

In the Wards…

John and Jorge had gone to the Wards to once more make some much needed runs to buy some samples of new technology and Hardsuit upgrades since Cortana wanted to make some research on an idea she had which involved the said upgrades. They had already spoken to both Anderson and Udina earlier, getting confirmation that the Alliance had managed to select their observers for their faction and they were more than willing to meet with the Spartans in order to allow them to grade the observers. Anderson however pointed out that the Alliance High Command were interested in a meeting with the Spartans to discuss some matters that were not the kind one could afford to ignore.

John, Cortana, and Jorge agreed and soon, Udina had sent the message while Anderson contacted Admiral Steven Hackett and planned to go to Arcturus Station in order to finalize the meeting himself in person. The Spartans nodded and here they were, going to get some of the upgrades and John wondered if he could find the Volus merchant Talheed and see if he could get some deals with the merchant. He didn't quite trust the Volus but so far, he was the one to go to. It was after finding the said merchant who was willing to barter with John that he and Jorge moved around as John hoped to help Jorge get used to being around non-humans who were not shooting at him, at least not yet.

However, Cortana soon told them that they were being followed and she confirmed that the ones following them were the Krogan that they had seen before. The Spartans decided to move away to get to a location where they could deal with these Krogan without bringing people into the fight.

Jorge followed the lead of the Master Chief and he was ready for anything as there was a very high chance that these new aliens were going to go at them the very second they figured out that he and John were well aware of them following them. They were able to find a fairly empty area of the Wards and as soon as they were in the clear and there were not that many people, they turned to face their trackers.

The Spartans and the Krogan were not aware that another being had taken notice and had tracked the Krogan as well. It was not long before the two Spartans now found themselves to be surrounded by the Krogan who had followed them before.

…

As the six Krogan looked at the Spartans they had surrounded, one of them, the apparent leader walked over to the Master Chief and spoke in a mocking tone.

"So you're the Spartan we've been hearing so much about, you don't look like much to me."

John merely replied to that in a calm voice.

"Appearances can be deceiving, but I doubt you're here for that. What do you want?"

The Krogan replied to that with a snarl.

"What I want is to see if you Spartans are as tough as they make you out to be, or are you just some humans wearing some cheap Hardsuits made to look tough."

Another Krogan replied to that with an equivalent of a sneer on his reptilian face.

"We're wasting our time here Gantrag, let's just get this over with and deal with these 'Spartans' and take their gear, maybe we can finally get a profit out of coming here."

Jorge then replied to that with a calm but serious voice.

"Try it and I'll promise a very painful death to the first of you to try."

The Krogan group laughed at that and their leader decided that the time for talk was now as he moved and spoke to the Spartan.

"The time for talk is over Spartan, hand over all that you have on you or else we're going to see if you Spartans can match up to full blooded Krogans!"

That made the other Krogan agree as they were now waiting to get this over and done with, as they were more than interested in getting a good amount of credits for stealing the technology of these Spartans as well as proving themselves better than these humans who might be nothing more than a bunch of liars and cheats with their leader and one of their own moving forward to take the weapons on the Spartan's backs as well as push them around to see if they were tough indeed or just weak and no match for them. However, their confidence got a shock when their leader suddenly found himself flying backwards from a high powered kick from the lead Spartan, their other comrade was also sent flying back wards and hit the nearby wall with a lot of force as the second Spartan used only a backhand strike when the second one had tried to ambush the second Spartan.

Both John and Jorge wasted no time as they were quickly pushing themselves to high gear as they quickly fought the other four Krogan, John knew that from what he had read from the Codex about the Krogan that they were tough and well equipped in a biological sense with strength, endurance, as well as a redundant organs of a sort that would allow them to recover from battles that would kill any regular being. But he and Jorge were not regular humans either as they were able to strike quickly and effectively.

One of the Krogan found himself slammed hard into a wall by John as the Spartan charged fast and hard into the Krogan and after moving back before the Krogan could recover, the Spartan quickly took out his MA6A and unleashed a torrent of the Gauss bullets into the chest of the Krogan. The Hardsuit it had on managed to hold for a bit longer before it failed. The damage had been piled up to the point that the Hardsuit's internal repair systems were unable to properly repair the suit.

The Krogan were indeed taller and stronger than the regular humans and would be a match for the Spartans physically, considering the conditions of their hostile home-world and the fact that they had redundant organs and nervous systems that allowed them to live longer. However, this only served to make the Spartans all the more creative in killing their foes.

John proved that as he unleashed a combination attack of Gauss rounds and a powerful strike to the Krogan's head and followed it with a powerful stab of a Combat Knife in the neck and followed it with a stab in the heart with his MJOLNIR's shields formed as a blade. He stabbed both of the areas where the organs were and had crippled both hearts in a moment before the Krogan he attacked could react.

Jorge did likewise, but he did it differently as he landed a combination strike of a strike to the chin and followed with a powerful knee strike to the stomach and an elbow strike to the lower jaw and followed that with a brutal punch that broke through the Krogan's Kinetic Barriers and cracked the chest area of the Krogan's Hardsuit. Jorge finished it off with stabbing the MA6A Gauss Assault Rifle into the Krogan's stomach and unleashed a whole clip into the target and followed it up with a massive fist strike to the chest with his MJOLNIR's Shield condensing around to add even more mass to the punch of the Spartan heavy weapons specialist.

The blow had more than enough power to actually smash through the ceramic plating and cave in the Krogan's chest with Jorge finishing it off with a burst of the last Gauss rounds right into the face of the Krogan, shredding the creature's face and head.

The two surviving Krogan watched in shock as the attack had last only six seconds and already two of their gang had been crippled and severely wounded by the two humans before them. They roared and charged at both Jorge and John, but the Spartans were not unfamiliar with such tactics, having seen those from Brutes, Hunters, and Sangheili more than once in their lives and they were able to evade them and both of them unleashed a concerted barrage of their Gauss Assault Rifles at the two Krogan. The Gauss rounds were a lot larger than regular mass accelerator rounds and were able to make short work of the Kinetic Barriers on the Krogan.

However that was when the weapons ran dry and when the Krogan charged again with their hands ready to rip the Spartans out of their Armor, both John and Jorge decided to oblige them and soon all four beings were in each other's grip and trying to out wrestle each other in full strength. The Krogan were not to be trifled with due to their strength and it seemed that the two were gambling on using their race's strength to defeat the Spartans in close combat.

Both John and Jorge sensed that these creatures were stronger beings in a sense, yet that did not stop them from going to the distance and also using their years of experience, turned the strength of the two Krogan against them by using CQC tactics and sent the two Krogan to the ground in throws taught to them in their military days. They sent the Krogan to the ground and were now on top of them with them holding both Krogan in choke holds.

The two aliens struggled but to their surprise, the Spartans were actually equal to them in weight in full armor, even heavier as well. This had made them realize that what they had thought of the Spartans was far below the mark. They tried to free themselves but that only served to make the Spartans tighten their grips around the throats of the two Krogan. The strength exhibited by the Spartans as well as the boost given to them by their Mark X was more than enough to make their grips terrifying by any standard. The pressure continued to build and even the Krogan who were still pinned down by the Spartans finally began to panic as they were soon running out of energy to breath as well as to remove the humans on top of them. This went on for a while longer until the two Krogan finally passed out and that was followed by the sounds of bones breaking, showing that both Krogan had their necks broken and the sounds were not limited to the neck as their own rips broke as well as the weight of the Spartans in their Mark X also crushed the ribs of the Krogan.

The last two Krogan recovered and looked in shock as they saw four of their comrades dead and the roared out in rage as they took their assault rifles and unleashed a hail of bullets with the leader shouting to the Spartan.

"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!"

To their shock however, despite them using special upgrades on their weapons, the Kinetic barriers on the armor of the Spartans were not even failing, they had unleashed more than enough ammunition to tear down most shields in minutes, they fired out all they had until their weapons were now overheating. They then quickly used their Shotguns and fired blast after blast and still they were not getting anywhere as the Spartans still stood there until their Shotguns were now screaming in overheating mode and still the Spartans stood unharmed as their golden shields shimmered, telling the Krogans that they were armed with something that was not standard issue Kinetic Barriers. The lead Spartan shrugged and replied.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Both Krogan roared once more at that and tried to attack, their battle frenzy getting the better of them. This was more than enough for the Spartans to make their move as they smashed hard into the Krogan with a combination of shoulder charges which were amplified by their Mark X' shield systems which were the followed up with a knee strike to the stomachs. The two surviving Krogan moved down with their mouths still open and that allowed the two Spartans to jam their MA6A Gauss Assault Rifles into their mouths…

And fire all 64 rounds into the two Krogan…

The result was unbelievably bloody as the Gauss rounds were now tearing apart the Krogan internally as the rounds tore apart flesh, tissue, bones, nerve endings and more. The rounds eventually tore through the armor of their Hardsuits and a number of holes were there. Once the Assault Rifles clicked dry, the Spartans casually kicked the now dead Krogan gang members in the chest. That action removed them from the still smoking barrels of the Assault Rifle and crashing to the ground as their blood flowed out in an ever increasing pool.

Both Spartans reloaded their weapons and then quickly turned to aim both at the sound of…clapping?

"Nicely done…"

The two Spartans looked to see that there was another Krogan nearby, he was leaning on a nearby pillar and seemed to be fairly relaxed. And he was also heavily armed, this made John and Jorge wonder who this new Krogan was and if he was going to attack them as well.

The new Krogan however laughed a bit and spoke.

"I see you Spartans lived up to what I've heard for myself, and seeing you take down these idiots further enforced that."

John had a feeling that this Krogan seemed…different, for one thing, he was not attacking them like the other three did and seemed to approve the fact that he and Jorge had just killed six of his fellow Krogan. He decided to test the waters and speak while reloading a fresh Gauss clip into his weapon.

"And you are?"

The Krogan smiled somewhat and replied.

"My name is Urdnot Wrex, heard a lot about you Spartans and decided to trail you to see what might happen since these idiots were following you. You two fight very well, not the same as the Krogan in the past, but I can tell that you are both warriors, veterans at that and the way you move is impressive as well."

Jorge then replied.

"I don't suppose you plan on fighting us then?"

Wrex laughed a bit and replied.

"I'm not here to fight you two on the first meeting, I only decided to observe. Besides, I've got no contracts that require me to go after you two though I will admit facing the two of you after seeing what you can do is rather interesting in my mind as well as exciting. At any rate, I'm only here to deliver some merchandise to a client of mine in the Citadel, my work is done so I had some time to kill, and before you ask, I will say that while these idiots are Krogan like me, they don't have the same spirit in the past."

Wrex turned about and spotted a band of Turians and Asari coming in, all wearing C-Sec uniforms and armed to the teeth, he snorted and replied.

"And here comes the C-Sec cavalry, late as usual."

John and Jorge cleaned up the mess and decided to take weapons carried by the dead Krogan and Wrex decided to amble away, but not before one of the Turian guards groaned as he no doubt recognized the new Krogan and spoke out.

"Not you again Wrex."

"Nice to see you too."

The C-Sec looked the place over and saw the six dead Krogan as the Spartans were cleaning up and they looked at the Krogan gang and then to Wrex who smirked and pointed at the Spartans.

"This isn't my handiwork, the dead idiots on the floor were taken out by them Besides, considering how the situation played out, they had it coming."

One of the Asari raised an eyebrow and spoke to John and Jorge.

"This true?"

"Yes Ma'am."

The Turian officer sighed and replied.

"Executor Pallin is going to flip the second he gets wind of this…This is going to be a long day. All right, let's get this place cleaned up."

…

Later…

The Turian's words proved to be true as Executor Pallin was undeniably angered by the news of another fight breaking out in the Wards and even more so when he found out that it involved Krogan and the Spartans. However, he was a bit more lenient on the matter since both John and Jorge revealed that they had not been the ones to try and cause trouble as the Krogan had tried to intimidate the Spartans into a fight. Pallin knew how most of the Krogan were ever since the end of the Rebellions so he didn't have to guess to much on the possible outcome of the encounter.

He let them go for now, but warned the Master Chief to stop getting himself involved in fights in the Citadel that could possibly lead to heavy property damage. John replied that he would do his best to avoid that, though he made no promises that his attackers would the same thing. That was enough to make the Turian head of C-Sec sigh once more at that statement. They were soon visited by Selena who was hardly surprised that she would find them here after hearing about the actions the two had taken with the Krogan.

The biggest supporter of the story of the Spartans was Wrex himself who gave a good account of what he had witnessed and once everything was done, the Spartans and their Spectre watchdog/observer were on their way to the location of Arcturus Station to meet with the Alliance High Command , who were no doubt going to have a field day when they were going to see the Dawn. But before they could leave, they got slipped some credits by Wrex who said that it was a small sum for actually allowing him to see beings were more than able to take on his kind. And the Krogan mercenary also mentioned that he was looking forward to facing them someday.

Once they got back on the Dawn and were soon leaving the docking area of Citadel Station, the Spartans began to power up the Dawn's Slipspace Drive and soon the portal was activated and soon they were on their way to Arcturus Station as Anderson had been the one to head off to arrange things with Admiral Steven Hackett as well as the rest of the Alliance brass. Naturally Udina was quick to make the call made by the former N7 Marine a top priority and had to pull a few strings to make sure that the message made it right on time for the high command officers and officials in the station to receive.

…

Arcturus Station…

The fleet were currently moving about and getting ready for their regular patrols as well as assignments for supply transport, repairs and more. The station's contingents of technicians, engineers, civilian workers, Marines, residents, and administration staff were all hard at work and were not too worried about things as they were used to seeing the various ships moving about in the station, from frigates all the way to the few Dreadnaughts that were the heavy muscle of the Alliance Fleet.

However, they were in for a surprise when a black sphere came out of nowhere before the station, the Fifth Fleet what was in position over Arcturus soon moved in to identify the phenomenon and the people in the station were soon manning their positions to try and ready themselves for what was happening before them. They soon spotted a large ship come out of the sphere and soon they found themselves facing the Forward Unto Dawn itself as the UNSC/Forerunner built ship was now free of the Slipspace Portal which soon faded away.

Many of the crew of the Fifth Fleet as well as many of the other ships in the area were ready to fight if the new ship proved to be hostile until they were given the order to stand down and hold their positions as the ship before had been identified as a non hostile vessel and was allowed to dock with Arcturus Station.

Jorge looked at the massive station and whistled a bit, this station was massive though not in the same state as the Citadel.

"Not a bad looking place, been here before sir?"

John shook his head a bit and replied to the question.

"I haven't."

Selena looked at the station and spoke as well.

"I have, though that was years ago, just as my father retired from his service to the Alliance and eventually passed away."

…

Inside the Station…

John, Cortana, Selena, and Jorge moved through the Station while the Dawn was docked and on lock down. They had kept the Corvette in Reach and had it remain there for much needed upgrades to make it more effective as a warship, and also to keep it from scarring the hell out of the Alliance. That was coupled with the fact that both Spartans and even the Asari were not happy with the idea of the Alliance getting their hands on technology that they were not ready for just yet. And John as well as Cortana had a feeling that Garrus' information about the organization Cerberus might be accurate in the area that stated that they had supporters and agents in the high ranks of the Alliance.

Selena herself recalled the last time she had been on Arcturus Station, she had not yet been a Spectre and her father before his retirement due to old age from the Alliance military had been her guide. She had gotten into some interesting meetings with some of the Marines in the Station as well as some of the Naval personnel as well though that had been some time ago and she had a feeling that not many would remember her arrival here.

The Master Chief carried his MA7A ICWS Assault Rifle and a pair of M9 Laser SMGs to replace his previous weapons while Jorge carried his new M249H Laser SAW GPMG. The Spartan II heavy weapons expert found the weapon to be both useful and effective, as well as being more in line with his way of fighting while Selena still carried her usual arsenal of weapons while she was still wearing her trademark Colossus Armor. So far the trio was being greeted by the various people who were in the area, the men and some women were looking at the Asari with surprised and interested looks while they also looked at the Spartans with some level of worry and surprise at the presence of such giants in their base of all places.

The Spartans were quite used to that and ignored the stares that they were all getting from the people though they were very much wary of the situation they were in as there was a possibility of attack by possible Cerberus agents and more. So far they were not under attack, but the Spartans were still wary nevertheless, and they were not alone as Selena herself was cautious though she was like this since her father had told her that while a majority of his people were good and decent people, there would always be those who were less than trustworthy so she had to be ready for anything.

It was when they were past another door to where they were going to meet the Alliance brass for the time to meet the ones chosen by the Alliance to act as their faction's own observers that something happened to the group. They had just turned when the Spartans heard something that resembled a human moving on crutches heading their way, the human in question suddenly came and hit the Master Chief with a cry and shouted.

"What the hell! Watch where you…"

The man with crutches looked at the mammoth forms of the two Spartans and spoke out in surprise.

"Who the heck are you guys?"

Jorge then replied.

"We'd ask you the same question as well. And no offense, but you ran into us, relatively speaking of course."

The man looked at both Spartans and tried to speak at the behemoths before him, John decided to play nice and offered his hand to the man. The man in question looked sourly at the hand though his reply was not containing any malice, just some annoyance.

"I can get up myself."

John could see that the man meant it and he gave the man a nod and moved his hand away, the man got up and was soon standing on his own. He then turned as a number of guys came out from behind him. The man with crutches saw them and groaned a bit and spoke to himself at this moment, his tone was telling all three of them that the man was in some level of trouble with the group that had just arrived on the scene .

"Terrific…this is going to be one of those days."

"Hey Joker! You are going to regret having made me look like a fool in front of the others!"

"Grow up Max, it was not my fault you got beaten by the guy with crutches again."

"You…"

John moved forward, avoiding hitting Joker in any fashion and spoke in a serious tone to the group.

"What is going on here?"

The group now spotted the Spartan as they had seen Joker when he had just gotten up and had not seen the Spartans due to them at a different area of the station when they were chasing the man. Joker had used his skills in avoiding Max and his posse, the former classmate was still sore about the last exam where Joker had won hands down before Graduation and had taken it a bit personally ever since.

However he had stopped when the target of his annoyance and anger was now being shielded by this massive guy in armor that was nowhere near anything he had seen worn by members of the Alliance. He and his group were further stunned when the figure was quickly joined by another massive figure that was wearing something similar to the armor that the first wore but seemed bulkier and more massive. The color scheme was a bit off compared to the first's green and black color scheme with orange, red, and grey but it was still intimidating.

They said nothing and it was then that someone else came on the scene, and it was someone that Joker and the group as well as the Spartans and the Asari knew well.

Captain David Anderson looked over the whole situation before him, and he was hardly pleased. While he was not very keen on Joker's antics as well as his personality, he respected the young man's skills as a pilot as well as his abilities in being quite skilled when it came down to it, if it was not for the genetic defect that claimed the bones of his legs, he would have been given more. But Joker made up with his amazing piloting skills that had shown up more than once cadet.

He turned to Max and his posse and gave a sharp order which brooked no argument from them.

"This whole situation ends today; I want you and your group to head out of this hallway now and go back to what were supposed to be doing that can actually accomplish something in this base."

The group did just that but Max still glared at the young man on crutches. As soon as that was over, Anderson walked over to the Spartans and greeted them as well as Selena.

"Sorry about the situation you all found yourselves in, with all the things going on and your arrival here all of a sudden, things have gotten somewhat hectic and with our own fleet's current deployments to deal with a number of problems, it just adds to the whole situation."

"But the good news is that the top brass is all here and they are willing to let you state your case. But you can bet that a number of them are not going to be very happy that you and Cortana did not side with the Alliance. There might also be a chance that they might try to ask your friend and fellow Spartan to join them."

Jorge replied to that in an honest fashion.

"I happen to be under the command of someone else I trust Captain so I am not planning to change sides anytime soon."

Anderson could sense that Jorge meant those words and shook his head, hew then turned his attention to Joker and spoke seriously to the man.

"Joker, I hope you can explain this incident to me in detail later, as well as get yourself ready for an assignment."

"Yes sir."

"Before I forget, you might want to introduce yourself to the Spartans here, they happen to be the ones the top brass are meeting today."

Joker looked at the two giants in armor and decided that he might as well reply to that.

"The name's Joker to most of the others around here in the Station but my real name is Jeff Moreau. I am the best Alliance Ship helmsman out here, and that is not me bragging, that is pure fact. Don't let the fact I have crutches means that I am lying either about my skills or what I can do once I'm behind the wheel of the ship. I can pilot any ship that is currently available to the people of the known galaxy."

Jorge gave a slight laugh at that and despite the obvious humor in it, the Master Chief knew that Jorge was not being insulting as the Spartan II spoke.

"He's got balls, I like him already, what do you think Squad Leader?"

John shrugged and replied.

"I've seen his scores and records, he's as every bit as skilled as he claims himself to be. Kind of reminds me of a combination of Ronald Jones, and Bart Mancuso from the book we read about as kids."

"Yeah, loved that book, shame no one makes copies of that anymore."

Joker was confused by this though Anderson smiled a bit and replied.

"Ah that one, I happen to know a bookstore back in Earth that still sells in antique books and includes that in their inventory, I'll see if I can't get you a copy that you can pick in the Citadel at a later date."

"I appreciate the thought."

"Uh, excuse me, no offense but what the heck are you all talking about?"

That was when Cortana made her appearance as she spoke privately to John and John did as she asked. He moved his hand forward with his pal upward and soon Cortana appeared right in front of a surprised Joker and a smiling Anderson. The A.I directed her attention to the pilot and replied with a smile.

"The book in question is the Hunt For Red October, a classic in you want to know, if you want to know who I am by the way, my serial number of is CTN 0452-9, but you can call me Cortana."

Joker looked at the A.I with a considerable level of surprise and shock, the fact that an A.I was actually on Arcturus Station did not sit very well with the young man. This was due to the fact that he had seen an old movie that had a rogue A.I kill a large number of people who were planning to make an odyssey through space itself. That was one of the reasons he was not very happy with an A.I onboard.

And he made that clear to the people there when he spoke.

"What the heck is an A.I doing here on Arcturus Station?"

Anderson was well aware of Joker's bias with and while he could understand the young man's reason, having known more about Cortana than Joker did. He spoke seriously to the man.

"Be at ease Joker, Cortana here is the Chief's personal A.I and since they are part of an independent faction not under the jurisdiction of either the Alliance or the Citadel, we can't exactly do anything about it. Besides, the Chief might not too kindly with anyone trying to take Cortana or harm her at all."

Joker had to admit that Captain Anderson did have a point and seeing the two men in armor told him that making an issue about it was not going to be very productive in the long run. Still, he decided to say what he wanted to say and make it clear that despite the situation he was not going to be very happy with the presence of the A.I, though he had to admit that compared to Hal-9000, Cortana was a lot better looking.

"Okay, but if she starts singing Daisy Bell, don't be surprised if I'm the first person to get to an escape pod."

Cortana smiled a bit and laughed at that.

"Oh…so you've seen that movie have you? Don't worry, I've already had my fill of going over the wall, and I don't relish going back. Besides, apart from my usual duties of running the base and the ships as well as everything else, I'm the only one capable of keeping an eye here on the Chief, since who knows how much trouble he might get himself into. Besides, he still owes me a present…"

Joker raised an eyebrow and replied.

"Okay…I don't think I want to know what that means, anyway, I got to go I was planning to head to the galley before those hotheads started to chase me."

As Joker left, Selena moved forward past both Spartans and spoke to David Anderson.

"Forgive me for being a bit blunt Captain Anderson, but I take it he is the pilot for the new ship that is being built by the Turian Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance?"

"That's correct Spectre Selena, Joker's attitude might rub some people the wrong way, but his records and achievements as a helmsman are undeniably beyond reproach. Truth be told the Alliance brass wanted him to be our liaison to the Spartans as well as allow him to get used to piloting a ship made by human hands but not of the Alliance. But I was against it since I have a feeling that he can put his talents to a more fruitful use for the Alliance."

John nodded in agreement as he spoke.

"I have a feeling that he will be of more help to the Alliance than us right now, I learned from his files when we were here that he has a medical condition known as Vrolik Syndrome which is why he has those crutches and no doubt leg braces as well to help him walk about. That's kind of hard to imagine."

"What do you mean by that Chief?"

"Vrolik Syndrome does not exist anymore with the UNSC due to 26th Century medical advancement, so it's hard to imagine that despite the Alliance's own technological advances, that syndrome is still around."

Anderson thought it over and answered that.

"I suppose it would be, but we didn't exactly have enough time to develop medicine to such a point yet due to straight genetic modification laws and regulations. However, compared to more severe cases with this same syndrome in the past, Joker is a bit luckier since the syndrome is much rarer than before due to advances in medicine."

Jorge then spoke out.

"At least the man's got talent and drive to go with it, those can be very helpful even with someone having a condition like that. At any rate sir, when is this meeting going to start with the Alliance Command?"

"I was sent to pick you up by Admiral Steven Hackett, he and the others will be in the main meeting hall to speak to you. Follow me."

…

Later…

As the Spartan reached the hall along with their Asari Spectre observer, they turned to see a large number of admirals, commanders, captains, and colonels all over the place, it seemed like the entire Alliance Naval Officer Corps had just decided to gather in one room to meet the Spartans themselves. John was not unfamiliar with meetings like this, having been in his fair share of meetings with high ranking officials, but this was the first time he had met this many officers in one room alone.

Cortana whistled a bit while conversing with the Spartan in private.

"Wow…this is the first time I've seen this much brass in one room, I feel like we walked into a military tribunal than a meeting."

"I know, we could probably melt all the medals and rank bars here to make at least a small sized statue."

Cortana chuckled at that and replied.

"That I have to see."

Jorge flicked his finger a bit, while that was unknown to all and was seen as a simple gesture, even by Selena, this was actually Spartan language, indicating that Jorge wanted a private word with John. This was one among a number of secrets that John had managed to keep out of Selena's mind during their melding since he was not going to compromise this no matter where he was and who he was working with, especially a non Spartan. As soon as he was in comm. with Jorge, the larger Spartan spoke.

"There's so much brass in this room, Samuel would have wondered if we were in a meeting with High Command or entering a brass mine."

"I know Jorge, he would have enjoyed this."

Both Spartans talked about their friend and fellow Spartan Samuel who was the first of their family to die in the war with the Covenant. He was the strongest of all the Spartans, even surpassing Jorge in some degree and was one of the physically larger Spartans. He was also John's best friend as well as his second in command in Blue Team, and he also was well regarded by all the other Spartans including Jorge. He was not the best leader like him, or Kurt, Fred, or Jerome, but he was the man John turned to when it counted. His death was a blow that took John time to recover from and was the hardest to forget for the veteran Spartan and leader of Blue Team.

The two of them however were back to being in business as usual as Admiral Steven Hackett now called the meeting to order. The older man carried himself like a full blown military professional and deserved a good deal of respect, John as well as Jorge and Cortana had read his files as did Spectre Selena, he was considered a high ranking officer as well as being highly skilled as well as respected in the Alliance Navy.

Despite having equals in the rank, his voice carried a great deal of weight with the Navy and his posting as the commanding officer of the Fifth Fleet of the Alliance added weight to that fact as this was the Fleet assigned with the task of securing and defending Arcturus Station itself which was the capital of the Systems Alliance military.

Hackett turned his attention to the Spartans and looked them over carefully, he liked what he saw as despite the fact he could not see their faces due to their armor and helmets, he could see soldiers. This meeting was something that the Alliance had been hoping for since the Master Chief arrived as well as the rescue of Caitlin Monroe and her Marines from the hands of the Batarians a few weeks prior. He personally agreed with Anderson when the Spartan and his faction were formally recognized as being an independent faction by the Citadel, as the Spartan and his A.I had a point that while having them in their ranks was boost, it was going to make all they had accomplished go to waste.

Of course this didn't sit well with the rest of the Alliance Command and they had clamored for a meeting, even more so when they found out from Anderson and Udina that another Spartan had appeared to join the Master Chief and Cortana as well. This meeting was soon going to be vital in his mind in order to prove that they were allies.

…

Hours later…

The meeting had gone off without too much of a headache, though that hardly meant that the Spartans as well as Cortana had an easy time of it. The Alliance High Command were quite the bunch as while there were a handful of officers who were all right by their standards, there were naturally some who they had to keep an eye out for as well. There were many questions and inquiries, one of those said inquiries was on how their augmentations were made. This was not something neither John nor Jorge went in to full detail, so they only provided enough details while managing to hide the rest.

The officers were also asking about their technology and if they were willing to share the technology to the Alliance. That had been something of a sensitive topic in the minds of the two super soldiers and their A.I companion, and for good reason. Though they had made a pledge to help humanity, the fact that there were rogue groups like Cerberus about, giving more sensitive technology even to the Alliance was not something that was a viable idea to say the very least. There was no telling what the results would be if Forerunner technology which was still too advanced to grasp by most standards would land in the hands of those in the Alliance with ties to Cerberus.

Naturally another question was if they were still intending to be independent, this had been a tough one and had been a test of the two men's patience. Jorge followed John's lead and trusted John a great deal which was why he agreed with him to stay independent even when others had asked him if he would not mind joining the Alliance himself. There were also other officers who had insisted that they remove their helmets throughout the meeting to show that they were indeed humans. They also asked if they had any inclination to be more on the side of the Council than the Alliance due to their independent nature.

John, Cortana and Jorge were naturally not too happy with such things being said to them but they kept their peace and worked their way through the meeting until it was finally over and soon they were going to meet the representatives of the Alliance. As the rest of the Alliance officers left the hallway, two new humans came into the room and saluted the only remaining military officers there in the hallway, them being Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson.

John studied the two new humans who were now in the Dawn who were serving as the Alliance's representatives and so did both Cortana as well as Jorge.

The first was a woman who had tanned skin and brown hair that was long and up the shoulder blades though the Spartan had no doubt she had it in a bun when wearing the Alliance helmet. She was attractive in any standpoint though she had the look of being a seasoned soldier and officer and not just another pretty face to look at by any means. She was at least six feet two inches, not too tall or too short and judging by the way she carried herself she was a very capable person. John however decided to let the battle field be the real judge, she wore what appeared to be a medium type of armor and carried the usual arsenal of weaponry that he was already familiar with.

The second was a man who looked to be Caucasian and had blonde hair that was in a short military cut and having a young face, the kind one normally would associate with a fresh faced youth. There was however a scar on his face that ran from one side of his face to the other over the bridge of his nose as well. Judging from the fact that he was wearing a much heavier Hardsuit than his female counterpart, he might have been one of the heavy shock troopers that were in the ranks of the Alliance marines. He was about six feet and one inch , at least an inch shorter than his fellow observer.

It was Admiral Hackett who introduced the two to the Master Chief.

"This is Lieutenant 1st Class Christie Rodriguez, one of our high ranking Vanguard operatives in the Alliance and served in several border patrols in the Attican Traverse for a number of years. Her records are here if you wish to take a look. And with her as her fellow observer is Sergeant Darrel Atkinson, he also happens to serve in the patrol fleets at the Attican Traverse and is one of our military's Shock Troopers, his records are here as well."

Hackett activated his personal omni-tool and allowed the Spartan to download the files when he placed his hand over the Admiral's omni-tool. Once that was done, the Admiral spoke once more to the Master Chief.

"Both of them have served in the Alliance for a number of years and have good records though I have a feeling that you will want to see it for yourselves."

John nodded and quickly checked the files that he had been given. The records on Lieutenant Christie showed that she had indeed been in patrol duties in the Attican Traverse and had also been able to fight with a number of criminals, Batarian slaver raids, and the occasional pirate groups that were in the area. She was born in Earth, specifically in Brazil and actually was a martial arts expert and specialist in the Brazilian art of Capoeria which she trained in during her off hours.

She had been discovered to be a Biotic at a young age and had been trained in the Alliance despite not being as powerful as the other Biotics in the ranks of the Alliance. She happened to have some medical problems that were understandable due to her being an L2 Biotic Implant user which included some migraine attacks every now and then, though these could be triggered by certain sounds and bright lights. Apart from that, she had served the Alliance well and was quite capable. Most of the people under her considered her to be a good officer and somewhat reckless, but she did have some issues with the Turians due to some of the events of the Battle of Shanxi, though she had not taken any serious action unless provoked by anyone. This was enough for the Spartan to know that the woman was at least not going to have too many problems working with other races. He however kept his mind open and would be willing to listen to her if she had questions.

As for Sergeant Darrel, he was a career soldier and had relatives in the Alliance military, his father served as a Marine while his mother served as a medic, with two younger brothers and one younger sister serving as well, both male siblings were in the Navy while his sister was in Alliance Intelligence. He also had taken part in the events of Shanxi though he had been in the Fleet that liberated the planet from the Turians, which was where he had gotten the scar on his face. He however seemed to not hold a grudge as he had made no attempt to fight with any Turian during his time after the Alliance joined the Citadel. Apparently he found the Turian's military methods and tactics to be interesting and showed that while he disapproved of what they did to Shanxi and it's people, he was not totally hostile about the event.

He also happened to be quite amiable when not on duty but was a tough NCO with those under his command and not afraid to get physical and hard with them if he had to. Unlike Christie, he was born on the Colony of Amaterasu though his parents were of British descent.

The files were genuine in Cortana's reading of the files and she spoke to him about that.

"These files are pretty solid so they are quite capable John, what do you think?"

"They seem all right, but we'll need to set some ground rules for them now before we move out."

"Right."

John did just that and gave his approval of the two Alliance members. This was met with some level of relief by both Anderson and Hackett and soon, there was some discussion between the two groups on the ground rules that both Darrel and Christie had to follow. John also made it clear that if they were found to be doing something that would be deemed as a hostile action, then eh would send them back to the Alliance though he would ensure that they would be alive and in one piece when he sent them back.

As soon as they were done with the discussion, and the two observers as well as Hackett and Anderson agreed with the terms give by the Spartan, they moved out. Cortana was eager to get some work done as she had determined that she had everything that she needed for a project of hers back on Reach.

…

Three months later…

It had taken some time but the Spartans had been able to get used to having new people in the base that they had called home on this version of Reach. The Asari Spectre had managed to get along well enough with the two Alliance representatives, showing that she was not kidding in being able to understand humans to some degree. She had also made attempts to apologize to both John and Jorge for what happened before when she had ignored the Master Chief's advice, stating that she had an impulsive action to see things for herself, something she admitted as a habit she got from her human father and was at times something that was at odds with her Asari heritage.

Both John and Jorge decided to accept it for the time being and while they were not all that trusting of Selena yet, they admitted to themselves and to one another that she was capable. During some field training runs she proved more than able to hold her own even without the use of Biotics, though they had actually toned down their physical abilities during any sparring session with the Asari.

As for Selena herself she was grateful that they did so since she had already sensed how dangerous both men were if they were actually being serious. She had read the reports and seen the battle skills herself in John's case and had no trouble seeing Jorge being just as dangerous as his new commanding officer, in fact, seeing him carry such a massive weapon which was usually carried by heavy mechs was quite a sight in itself.

For both Christie and Darrel, meeting the Spartans was a surprise as well. The second they saw the massive humans, they had to remind themselves to relax as these men were not the enemy despite how massive they were. In armor they were as tall as Krogan and no doubt just as dangerous. This was proven to be true when they saw both men in training, even without their armor on which was undeniably heavy by looks alone, the men were shocking.

Not even the N7 Marines that the two knew of were this physically capable in battle and they were actually eager to see these Spartans in action for themselves. But for now they were getting used to the new rules that they had to follow. The fact that they could not contact anyone outside of this system due to the lack of Mass Relays was a problem, but they were happy that the Spartans routinely went to either Arcturus Station or the Citadel so they would be able to make contact with their allies as well as anyone they wanted to talk to as well as offer reports to their superiors.

…

For now however, a new project was well underway in the science lab of CASTLE Base under the watchful eye of the Spartans and Cortana and all three of them were going to be coming along for a very interesting and possibly fruitful ride.

The Asari as well as the two Alliance representatives looked at the three new armor systems that the Spartan had been working on for the past month and a half. All three models were different for sure than any of the Hardsuits that were usually used by the Alliance though they had some similarities to one another as well as Hardsuits. The Master Chief and Cortana with some assistance from Jorge himself as well as samples of Hardsuits that the Master Chief had been able to get his hands on, had developed these three prototypes to test what would be described as totally unknown Hardsuit models and that also included data on the various armor upgrade packages that were known to exist in the Citadel and the Alliance. They also used data from their own universe's types of armor, namely from the UNSC, the Covenant, and the Forerunner to further expand the concept of the Combat Hardsuit, taking it in directions that the Alliance and the Citadel had never done.

All three armor systems were quite different in their appearance in a number of ways but they were still very impressive pieces of work. The three noted that the armor didn't follow the Hardsuit's usual patterning for gender at least for human figures and that made them curious as to why that was the case. However, they decided to wait and see what the results would be once they got their hands on these models.

The armor plating on all three models was slender yet dense while the inner bodysuit was made from some sort of material that looked a bit organic and metallic at the very same time. The alloys the formed the outer armor shells of the suits were unknown to the Asari Spectre and the Alliance officers who were serving as the observers of the Alliance in the base itself as well as the Spartans. And they were located naturally in areas that needed the most protection without compromising speed as well as agility of the wearer.

The helmet was different from the regular Hardsuit helmet and had some sort of visor that covered the front of the face which exposed it and yet the glass was as hard as the kind used on the visors of regular Alliance and Citadel helmets.

There were no signs of e-zero on the suits' power supply as well and that confused to group. E-zero was used as the basis of all technology by the Alliance and the Citadel as well as other races that were in this galaxy. But these suits ran in a completely different system and that was actually a portable fusion reactor that was actually base on the MJOLNIR Mark V reactor.

After Jorge's armor had been upgraded, the Huragok had the data on how to built a portable fusion reactor and this served as the basis for the armor system's power supply. This freed the e-zero cores that were usually the main power source for Hardsuits and redirected them to focus more on improving the recharge rate and durability of the Kinetic Barriers of the Armors themselves as well as some other features that would be .useful in the minds of the Spartans along with Cortana, as they believed that E-zero had a great deal of potential that was not yet fully explored by the others within the Council and the Alliance and they aimed to be the first to do so and see just what other avenues could be opened.

This surprised them as the idea of a fusion reactor that was portable by a living being was unheard of and was considered to be impossible as the vast majority of fusion reactors were used on ships as well as stations and colonies and never in infantry armor. But it seemed that the UNSC were quite capable of developing portable power sources. The Asari and the humans had been able to see the specially fueled vehicles of the UNSC that used Hydrogen and they were surprised that such technology was possible.

For the Asari, the sight of technology that was able to perform very well without Element Zero was impressive in its own right. And for the humans, the idea of actual portable fusion reactors and Hydrogen powered reactors was interesting as these kinds of technology would actually help improve Earth in the long run. The technology would serve as an alternative power source for the less developed sections of Earth and would further improve the environmental situation on the planet even with the advancements made in the past decades.

There were also some very interesting features on the three units that seemed to tell them apart from one another.

One model had some sort pack that was not like a rucksack of some sort and there was an e-zero core there to serve as the unknown device's power source. There were also nacelles in the bottom as well as the sides of the pack and the Armor system seemed to be more streamlined to reduce drag.

The second model seemed to have a number of faintly glowing lines around it as well as some sort of external power pack and had slightly thicker armor plating as well. The armor plating itself seemed to have some sort of faint shimmering about it as well.

The third and last model seemed to be armed with some sort of special backpack that served to carry some unknown equipment as well as various supplies. The armor also had some bulkier sections in it as well which were no doubt compartments of a sort They had no idea what sort of equipment it is, but from the way the Spartans had been working on it, it was very important for the group in question.

Selena turned her attention to Cortana who was there next to them while the Spartans were currently working on the three variants and she spoke to the A.I.

"What exactly are those Armor systems? They look like Hardsuits but are too different in some ways than the kinds we happen to be familiar with."

Cortana replied to that.

"You are right, we've been busy researching the data we have in our own databases as well as the data we gathered in the various kinds of Hardsuits that the Chief and I have managed to get our hands on. And these are the results, and you all are going to be testing them soon enough. Though I have a feeling that John and Jorge will want to make sure that we have more tests done before they let you get your hands on them, so right now, you're only going to be looking and not touching them."

"Those three happen to be prototypes and we've actually managed to squeeze in a number of features from the Hardsuit upgrades we've been purchasing for some time now. We plan to incorporate a number of these technological upgrade packages into these models directly so they already have a number of features that no regular Hardsuit has for this moment. All in all, these prototypes should have a very interesting impact in the near future."

…

For the next few weeks on Reach, the Spartans and the A.I were busy looking over the performance of the new Hardsuit variants in a number of trials which the Spectre and the Alliance military observers were taking part in. It didn't take long for the Spartans to allow the three to field test the three variants since the three actually wanted to try them out and gauge how these hybrid Hardsuits would fair in actual field conditions. The members of both the Citadel and the Alliance also found that the Hardsuits were armed with some sort of neural interface control system that was similar to an omni-tool and was no doubt the variant made by the Spartans and their A.I.

Once the two had finished their own personal inspection, a copy of each prototype was made with the second copy having a different helmet design and configuration for Selena to use. And soon the tests began and the three were going to serve as the ones to run the prototypes through their paces for themselves.

The results stunned all three of them as the Hardsuits developed by the Spartans were a lot different from what they were used to in their respective factions. The Spartans and their A.I companion as well as the Constructors and the Huragok had developed models that were shocking to say the least as they were armed with a number of features that was usually extremely difficult to pull off. They had thought that these were not going to be easy to use, but each model did not deviate from the Hardsuits that they were used to. In fact, they were able to perform well in them in the tests with no form of discomfort in the three of them.

Selena personally found the stealth variant to be very innovative and very effective as she had tested the system carefully and found it to be very effective in ambush and stealth situations where not being seen was better than revealing one's self, she had been worried that the systems on the prototype Stealth Hardsuit would interfere with her Biotics, but they did not and her Tech talents were able to adjust the systems that were built in just fine. The only flaw is that in order to use the active stealth system, her Kinetic barriers had to be offline since they would create disruptions to the Stealth 'bubble' and would reveal her to her enemies with considerable ease though this was countered by the passive stealth camouflage.

The one armed with the feature that the Spartans and Cortana called a 'Jet Pack' was just as impressive though she admitted that she was not used to such a system as Jet Packs were totally alien technology to her and no doubt to everyone this galaxy and it took a good deal of fine control to use effectively in battle. However she was quick to see the potential of such a system for rapid advancement and sneak attacks. She had tested this well though her mastery of the system was not up to the standard, though she could say the same for her Alliance counterparts who themselves were having a hard time in using their own copies in the field.

For Christie and for Darrel, the two variants were very interesting and challenging to say the least as the technology that went into them was impressive as they knew that actual stealth and jet pack technology was unheard of in the Alliance. They had been testing each model carefully to make sure that each of their suits had all the data that was needed. Both of them had never tested suits like these before and truth be told, they were very eager to see just how these suits would perform in actual battle field conditions.

As for John and Cortana as well as Jorge, they themselves were not going to let those suits out just yet, even with the retrofits, upgrades and more, there were still plenty of bugs to work out before these suits would see production if and when that would occur. The suits incorporated a number of the features they had found in the Hardsuits as well as the upgrade packages that would normally be used in the Hardsuits themselves. These new versions of the upgrades were modified to be integrated into the suits themselves instead of being installed and that was not a easy thing to pull by any standard but these features that were integrated would give the ones wearing these suits a deadly advantage in combat in any battle.

One thing was certain, once the suits were fully cleared for actual field operations, they were going to prove as valuable tools and systems in the coming battle. John however kept in mind that if they were going to mass produce them, they were going to have to make sure that the suits were not going to be easily taken by just anyone. And there would be variants that would be applicable to the various body anatomies of the races that they would have to someday take as representatives of the Citadel as well as the Alliance itself. Just because they already had two representatives of the Alliance didn't mean that they were going to be the only ones.

So far, the two Alliance members were all right as far, but they were still going to have to work hard to prove that they were going to be the kind of people that the Spartans and the UNSC A.I could and would trust in the long run.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There…yet another chapter done and this should be enough for now, this will allow me to work on the other stories that I know that I need to update at some point so I can be assured that I am updating all of the work that I have been working on for the past years ever since I started writing in this website. As you can see, there is already a good deal of activity in the base as the Spartans must no deal with having two members of the Alliance working with them.

These two officers are a male and female group to make sure that there is a level of variety in the whole mix since having only women usually invites a serious number of questions, both valid as well as invalid questions. As you can see the female officer is not Caitlin Monroe but another OC who's own back story will be revealed in due time, as will the male OC Alliance member as well who's own back story will play out at a much later date.

But to be clear, the female OC has some similarities to Tekken fighter Christie Monteiro, both in looks as well as form though not too much in personality so don't expect her to be the same as the said character that she is based on.

…

The Spartans have seen Arcturus Station and while they are somewhat impressed, they are not that impressed and while they are happy with the Alliance's naval power to some degree, they are still not happy with the lack of overall manpower in the Alliance military. This is also where they meet a certain trainee with the glass legs and they will no doubt not forget the man.

And since we all know who this person is, then I will answer the question in the back of your minds right now to spare myself the questions in the later future.

No, I will not have Joker act as the pilot of the Dawn, I happen to like him piloting the Normandy just fine and I have no doubt that if I did decide to do so, Joker will not be happy with Cortana despite how different Cortana looks like as well as how she acts unlike most the guy has met. Add the way Cortana's avatar looks and acts, those things might prove to be a bit of a distraction for the young man.

And it seems that John and Jorge have met another familiar face…Urdnot Wrex, I personally loved this Krogan mercenary when I played Mass Effect since I can understand his situation in my own point of view. How will this meeting work in the end when the events of the first Mass effect game occur…that is going to be a secret for now so I hope you all can wait.

…

Now as for the three models of Armor that you all have read about, they were developed following several UNSC and Forerunner Armor types namely the features of the ODSTs' Battle Dress Uniform and some of the armor and sensors of the Forerunners, along with the power supply systems of the MJOLNIR.

These models also possess a number of abilities that were made from the technology that is present. The first model uses the idea of Jet Pack armed infantry for rapid movement as well as securing areas that would be vital in combat or defense in a quick and unexpected fashion.

Essentially this is based on the ODST Bullfrogs as well as the Jet packs used on Reach by the Noble Team. Though the Jet Packs use the same features that John's Mark X possess so these are less noisy than the Jet Packs themselves. The end result is that when it is mass produced under the watchful eye of the Spartans as well as Cortana, this will allow teams of soldiers to quickly traverse areas and get vantage points that would be very difficult to reach on foot.

The second version is based on the abilities of the Spartan IIIs SPI Mark I and Mark II Armors with advanced Photo-Reactive Panels. These Panels are a lot better than the previous models due to data from both Covenant and Forerunner databases as well as experiments with improving the panels by Cortana and serve as a secondary stealth system should the primary stealth system fail or is compromised in some fashion or another. The primary stealth system is basically an Active Camouflage system that is similar to the ones we've seen in the Halo franchise series. This however is powered by E-zero and as such lasts a great deal longer than regular Active Camouflage systems.

The last variant is more of the kind which would be useful for field operations and is more in line with Special Forces fire-teams and thus would give them a number of abilities that will count. This is similar to the Load-out functions from Halo Reach's multiplayer maps. This armor is customization in every fashion and carries a number of devices that are useful in giving an assault team a number of abilities though these are customizable as well. A number of familiar Halo Devices will be seen as part of the kit of this Armor variant and will be useful if and when they will be used in the field and in battle.

…

As for the Dawn getting some action, it will and soon the Citadel and the Alliance are going to see the Dawn in actions when a space battle occurs.

And when that happens, you can bet that when Cortana has the Dawn use it's weapons in battle, there is going to be some serious repercussions in the long run. And there is no doubt that Cerberus and the other organizations and renegade groups are also going to take a good deal of interest in the results of the battle itself.

The Dawn is armed with technology that is going to make the proverbial jaw drop to the floor, no matter what race gets to see it, and the ship's armor and shields will also play a good deal of punch in the battle itself as well as they will get to see Cortana use her skills in battle as well. You can bet that when the dust and wreckage settles, there is going to be some heated discussions on what should be done in dealing with the power and strength of the UNSC/Forerunner hybrid warship

…

And I get a question about whether there will be lemons just like I made in VanDread Halo The Second Stage in this story that involve the characters, I already have an answer to that.

Just wait and see!

It's way too early for lemons anyway.

…

See you soon for the next chapter though I will make some updates on my other works as well at some point.


	7. Naval Engagement

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 6

Naval Engagement…

( ): Thoughts

…

In Reach…

John was currently in the shooting range to work on his accuracy as well as seeing if the new laser weapon models were testing out all right. The Laser Sniper Rifle was more than able to slice through the target before it as well as making a smoking hole in the back. The Spartan leader looked at the results and sighed as he knew that this weapon had it's advantages and disadvantages. The power it had to rip through Kinetic Barriers as well as ceramic armor as well as thick hide was good, but the fact that it left a bright trail was more than enough to reveal a shooter position. And it also had something of an overheating issue as well and also was a bit bulkier, not exactly the kind of weapon a sniper wanted to be lugging around all day.

Still, the advantages of easily slicing through the Kinetic barriers and ceramic armor was not something that could be placed aside, and the enhanced range which was inherent with all Sniper Rifles was something that was too good as well. He then got up from his sniper position and turned as Christie entered the room and she looked at the massive weapon and she raised an eyebrow as she looked at the thing. She had seen weapons many times before, but never something this massive.

John noted that but said nothing as he checked the weapon for any flaws and the Alliance Vanguard spoke to him.

"That's one of your new weapons?"

The Spartan didn't reply right away but he looked at her and replied in a short but respectful tone as he knew that despite him being head of the base she was in, she still outranked him.

"Yes Ma'am, a Laser Sniper Rifle."

"I see…and don't call me that. I know I outrank you, but I'm not old enough to be called that, I'm only in my late twenties after all."

"Technically that's true, but in terms of age, I am older than you by a few years. And I am following protocol after all."

Christie snorted a bit but it was not in a negative fashion, truth be told, she had heard stories about the Spartan earlier, and that was not in a bad way. Still, she could tell that he was not someone that one could afford to ignore for any reason. Besides, she found his technology to be very interesting and innovative, not to mention very powerful as well. She was eager to learn all that she could from this man as well as his fellow Spartan. And now was a good a time as any in her mind as she pointed to the Sniper Rifle.

"Do you mind if I can test it out?"

John looked at the weapon and nodded as he reset it and allowed her to fire the weapon at several new targets. He took his time in setting things up and as soon as the shooting was underway, he turned to see Jorge walking in. The massive Spartan II heavy weapons specialist was still wearing his armor though he had the helmet to his side. John knew that Jorge was the kind who preferred not to wear the helmet all the time unless he was in combat.

And truth be told, having Jorge around was a good thing, he was more comfortable around civilians than he was and the other Spartans. This had helpful more than once since Jorge was able to get information from civilians about key matters when force was not going to work. That didn't mean Jorge was a softie in any sense, he was just more open to people he was willing to trust.

Jorge smiled as he spotted both John and the new addition to their base, he felt a bit more comfortable around humans than he did with non humans though he was slowly getting used to seeing Selena about. He was not kidding that compared to the various Covenant he had to kill in the past with Noble Team and the other Spartans, she was not bad looking. That hardly meant that he was interested or anything, he was still curious on seeing if these Spectres were all they were cracked up to be.

For now however, he had other plans in mind as he sat down next to John who leaned on a nearby wall in the shooting area as the lady fired the weapon.

"So what do we do now Squad leader?"

"Bored or something Jorge?"

"You could say that, I'd certainly like to have something to do and also to test this armor to it's real limits."

"Thought as much, but we'll just have to wait for now. Do you mind if you handle things here for the time being?"

"Sure thing, where are you off to?"

"Have to check if we need to go and get new supplies, no sense not getting the base fully stocked, besides, I have to see if I need to make changes with the prototypes and see if we can't fix any bugs in them."

"I can understand that much Squad leader, but are you sure that giving the residents of our home access is a wise idea?"

John shrugged as he removed his helmet and replied to the question from his friend and fellow Spartan.

"Personally, no, it's not, but we have to play ball as it were, we're not super beings Jorge so we have to play along to make sure that we keep ourselves alive long enough to go home someday. And that will be a good thing that will make sure we don't wind up being seen as dangers and have organizations hounding us every chance they get, at least for now anyway. Of course that hardly means that we're going to be letting our technology be easily taken, nor are we going tobe intimidated either.

Jorge nodded at that and spoke to John seriously.

"I'm getting used to being back here…I will admit that having that…Asari around is not easy."

"I understand, bringing her here to Reach was not an easy decision."

Jorge then grinned and replied.

"True, but compared to the Spilt lips, the Gorillas, and all the others we've fought with for thirty years, she's not all that bad. Still, the Biotics thing is a bit…disconcerting. Don't know how exactly how we can fight people or beings who are telekinetic users or the like if we have to face them."

"We'll find ways, see you around Jorge."

"Roger that."

…

As John left the area to do what he needed to do, Jorge turned and watched the woman's progress, there was no doubt in his mind that she had heard the whole discussion and he was soon going to be spoke to by the woman. Sure enough, Christie spoke to the Spartan who was with her at the moment as the Master Chief had gone to oversee some matters of his own elsewhere in the base.

"You and your commanding officer seem close."

"'We grew up and trained together, shouldn't be a surprise to most."

"You were in the military with him huh? I wasn't much of a military girl myself, but I adjusted ever since I decided to join out of the fact I had nowhere else to go."

Jorge was curious about that and decided to speak to the woman a bit more, this way he would know just what sort of person she was. It was not just out of idle curiosity as well, all Spartans like him needed to know all they could about potential allies which was why they usually read the psyche profiles of those who were going to be with them in a mission that might take a considerable amount of time to finish. It was habit and it helped on more than one occasion.

"So how did you get involved with the Alliance?"

Christie thought it over and spoke to the Spartan who seemed to be very calm when she looked at him. One thing was sure in her mind about Jorge, he was calm and straight faced, and no doubt would be one heck of a foe in the card table. But unlike his commanding officer he seemed to be a lot more approachable in some sense.

(Why not? No sense telling him who I am, besides, this might help me know him more.)

"I joined the Alliance when they gave out the offer to take in Biotics like me, I was part of the first attempts of Humanity to understand the functions as well as the potential of human Biotics. You see, there was a place most of us…first generation Biotics call Brain Camp or to the public it was called BAaT or Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training. The program was run by Conatix Industries, they were the ones who tracked us down when Biotic cases began to spring all over the place. They made some serious mistakes as well in that and many of the other kids cracked and some died."

"Humanity at the time didn't know much about Biotics. It was all new territory for them and they were not keen on waiting long and appearing weak before the Council, so they sped up the process and hired a Turian war veteran named Commander Vyrnnus…bad mistake."

Jorge could see that this Turian named Vyrnnus was someone Christie had an axe to grind with and spoke.

"He was not a good teacher I take it?"

The woman glared at the floor and replied with some level of bitterness in her voice.

"Hah…he was a bastard in every sense of the word. He introduced himself by saying 'I was at the helm of the Dreadnought that killed your father.' My dad never took part in the battle at all but I never said it, the only young kid in our class who said that however, a guy named Kaidan Alenko. I respected him for that, but for the rest of our lives, that Turian used hunger, thirst and brutality to try to force us to hone our skills in Biotics."

"I watched some of the others either die or break under the strain, I hated that bastard ever since, it was when he went too far that he finally got what was coming to him for all the crap he up us through."

"How so?"

"He injured a young trainee named Rahna, we all liked her, Kaidan mostly, I figured that they got sweet on each other at some point. She tried to get a drink using regular actions instead of Biotics, the Turian broke her arm, and Kaidan tried to help her. That Turian took out a talon and threatened Kaidan, saying his people should have bombed us to the stone age…he got a good Biotic kick from Kaidan…broke his neck and killed him afterwards."

Christie remained silent and Jorge could see the emotions there, no wonder she seemed to be tense at times and seemed to have some issues with her. He however remained silent as interfering in a conversation was not something that he knew was a wise idea. Eventually Christie spoke as she decided that she made it that far with her life so she might as well get it over with.

"Anyway..with him dead, BAaT was shut down and the Turians were not too happy losing one of their own. I dropped off the radar to try and get some semblance of a life back. But I decided to put my talents to better use and I joined up with the Alliance…ran into Kaidan there as well though we took different paths. He might not have anger towards the Council races, even the Turians, but I still hated the Turians for what that bastard Vyrnnus did to us in that hellhole of a school."

Jorge remained silent and then spoke when he could sense that now was a good time to ask a question to the woman.

"You had health problems?"

"Yeah, migraines and sometimes dizziness, but I consider them minor since I've already been through worse, and even if those new L3 implants are safer, I kept my L2 to remind me what I went through and to remember what I had to learn to use these talents to fight off enemies to Humanity."

"I see…"

Christie looked at Jorge and saw that he was still serious looking and she decided to smile a little and spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm not entirely xenophobic, I just don't trust them that easily, now if they got a Biotic teacher who was not an ass like Vyrnnus, then I would not be so hard cased about it all, but let's not dwell on it. No sense trying to think of things that happened already in the past. So now that you know about me, what about you?"

"Pardon?"

Christie gave a mock frown and replied in a slightly teasing fashion.

"Come on big guy, I told you everything about me , the least you can do to be fair is tell me a bit about yourself right?"

Jorge thought it over and decided to reply just a bit about himself.

"Well, if you want to know a bit about me that does not go against UNSC regulations, I was born here on Reach for one."

Christie was surprised by that as she wondered just what that meant and she waited for Jorge to continue.

"Not on this Reach of course, but the Reach I left behind in our…reality there are several major cities here and New Alexandria was the crown jewel of the UNSC population here on Reach. I grew up here before I was conscripted into the Program that made me who I am actually."

Christie then replied.

"I bet the one who trained you was not exactly lovable?"

"You mean Senior Chief Petty Officer Mendez? You could say that, but he happened to be the man who taught me and my brothers and sisters everything that gave us a fighting edge to survive in the wars we fought in. He might be considered a dangerous man due to his years of military service and the way he trains us, but we saw him as a part of our lives and a father figure. He may have taught us how to kill but he taught us how to tell the right from the wrong and what else we needed to learn in order to accomplish whatever we need to do."

Christie could tell that the Spartan meant those words and she decided to find out more, in a way this man reminded her of herself when Commander Vyrnnus was still there making her life hell, but unlike her hating that Turian, this man saw the man who trained him as a father figure and someone that he would respect. She was curious about that and she had no doubt that the other Spartan who was Jorge's leader would feel the same way about this Mendez.

…

Elsewhere in Reach…

John and Cortana were looking over the improvements of the suits and it seemed to be ready for some small scale production work. He had a feeling that as soon as they sent a sample of either of the suits to the Alliance as well as the Citadel, it would be quite interesting to see how they would react to this technology. He also kept in mind that a visit to Earth would have to be made at some point in order to see how this Earth was different from the Earth he had been in before.

They also planned to check on some new upgrades that they would be placing on the Forward Unto Dawn as backup weapon systems and tools that could be useful in expanding the combat abilities of the now Destroyer sized Frigate. These included containers for the new Moray Space Mines that were going to be useful for either laying ambushes or surprising the hell out of any people who were not aware of the presence of mines. Of course John decided to experiment with ways to keep the signature of the weapons from being discovered and he had to dig up an old set of files pertaining to the ONI Prowler ships that were used by the UNSC.

They also decided to take a peak at the files they were able to get concerning the ships that were used by both the Council and the Alliance

The Dawn was undergoing the routine maintenance work with the Constructors, Strato-Sentinels, and the Huragok doing most of the work to keep the ship in excellent operational condition and they were ready to install anything new to the ship if needed. And now was a good time to install some new weapons that the dawn could use.

Cortana also toyed with the idea of building a number of Long sword-class interceptors which would be controlled as well as some of the newly repaired Sabre Interceptors, These fighters were recovered from the Covenant Corvette that Jorge had been in and were something that John had heard about as well as Cortana, to find them still in workable condition was a feat in itself considering how the Corvette came to this reality in the first place.

These new fighters would be very useful indeed along with the Longswords and with new upgrades to their weapons, armor, and shielding, they would be invaluable. Of course, they could also be controlled by organic pilots, but this would mean the need to recruit new pilot crews for the two fighter classes, but that can wait for now as he needed to make sure that these pilots would be the trustworthy kind and not the kind of guys who would try to rip them off and steal the machines.

While the Sabres were dedicated space superiority fighters, the Longswords were multi-purpose machines and could easily work as fighters, bombers and even troop deployment units in the surface of planets though the last ability was for high orbital insertion. They would be key if taking the Dawn into atmosphere was asking for trouble and would be invaluable in providing support for combat operations in both space and in the atmosphere.

Another machine was an improved version of the Open Frame 92/Extra Vehicular Activity units. These machines were deadly in their own right and it had been some time that he had been able to use them in combat. These units were only useful in deep space but while they would have looked like flying death traps to others in this reality, John knew how deadly they were. He and several Spartans had used these to rescue Dr. Halsey once though the mission had been completed at the cost of his fellow Spartans Arthur and Solomon. The EVA Frames were deadly and designed to attack ships in close battles and were only usable with those armed with pressure suits. He had no doubt that those people armed with Hard suits could use them, but he had no doubt that no one in this reality would willingly ride a machine that would be rather described as a flying weapons arsenal than a ship.

The new frames were not able to operate in atmosphere and were limited to space operations, but with an improved weapon setup such an improved M92 Principle Gauss cannon now named as the M93, Missile pods, new Gauss Rotary Cannons, and a Gauss M42 ELAAGat for close defense if needed. The shields on the new models were a lot stronger due to the improved shield array as well as the new reactor to provide power to them. The new frames were to be deployed if needed from the Dawn like before when he and his Spartans used them in the past but would only be used if the situation called for their use in battle.

As soon as they were done, the pair left the room and were soon greeted by the arrival of Darrel and Selena, apparently the two were getting along well enough so there was little reason for the Spartan to be worried, though he had an idea as to why. After all, Selena had mentioned that her mother's people were always seen by males and even females of various species as attractive and more. This was something that he hoped was not going to go too far, it was not really his business in many ways but he hoped that it was not going to be the source of some friction.

The two turned to speak to the Spartan with Selene speaking first.

"It's good to see that you have taken the time away from this Spartan, anyway, what do you plan to do now?"

John shrugged his shoulders and replied in a calm fashion.

"Not much, there's no need to leave for either Alliance or Citadel territory yet and there is a need to make some much needed upgrades to the Dawn as well as some other ideas. At any rate, we're going to be here for a while so don't expect things to be easy."

Selena nodded and she knew that it was going to be a while before she or her Alliance counterparts were going to be trusted enough by the Spartan and his companions. The tests that they had taken part in with the new armors had been a heck of a challenge and while they were eager to take them to their respective sides, they had no idea how they were built and without a working copy of the three model, they could not do that. The Asari however was patient and so was the Alliance Marine as they knew that the Spartan was not someone that they could force into anything that he didn't want to.

Darrel however was curious about some matters, he had seen the statues earlier and was told by Selena who they were and he had to admit that he could understand why the Spartan would have these statues made to honor these people, he had heard rumors about this Spartan but wondered if there was more to the whole story. He had always heard that there was more to the official story and getting to the bottom of it was a good thing in his mind.

"By the way, Chief."

"Yes?"

"What was the UNSC like back then?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I mean, I've heard rumors about your origins, and I'll admit that seeing you for myself was the best way to confirm everything I heard by far. But I still prefer to know for myself if what I heard was true."

John thought it over and Cortana spoke to him in private.

"Go ahead John, it might help him understand a lot more about where we come from."

"You sure that's wise?'

"Yeah, besides there's not much to lose, just keep the more sensitive details out from the whole thing. What those details are, I'll leave to you big guy."

John decided to give it a shot and nodded as he began to tell the two about how…his world differentiated from their own reality. he started with the basic events that started in the early years of Humanity which would eventually give rise to the UNSC. Namely the Jovian Moon Campaigns, the Rain forest Wars, and soon the Mars Campaign, he gave some details also on the development of the Slipspace Drive by Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa and how it had began colonization efforts to create the UNSC he knew to control at least 800 human controlled worlds. That had made Darrel raise his eyebrows in surprise at how that was possible as the Alliance had only a handful of world. Selena of course didn't need to listen too intently as she did see these events somewhat when she melded with John a few months before, but it was still good for her to hear about it. It also helped her fill in the images she had seen and make the pictures a bit more meaningful and also clearer.

Naturally John spoke of the many situations with the Insurrection until the beginning of the Covenant War with the UNSC as well as the outcome, it made Darrel look shocked at how it had turned out and this actually proved to him that what he had heard about the Spartan and where he and his companions, both the A.I and the new Spartan were all true in every sense of the word. Hearing about it all from a person who had been part of those events for most of his adult life was something else entirely and it made the statues there in the room seem more life like.

By the time it was over, Darrel was very much impressed, yet he felt one lingering question in the back of his mind and he spoke it out to the Spartan to see if he was all right with the question.

"Do you plan on going back to your reality one day Spartan?"

John was silent for a moment but that didn't last as he replied.

"If there is a way to replicate the events that brought me and Cortana here as well as Jorge, then yes I would go back. Even if the war is over and we do have an alliance with the Covenant Separatists, I know that until the Loyalists cease to exist, they will still pose a serious threat to the UNSC and Humanity. The Prophets, even with their diminished numbers will still provide leadership, technology, and weaponry to the Brutes, and those who are still fanatically loyal to their lies will be with the Brutes to wage war with the UNSC and the Separatists."

"But until that happens, I have to adapt and do what I can until we get enough data to go back. I have my duty to the UNSC and afterwards…who knows, we'll just have to wait and see what I have to do ahead of me."

Selena then spoke to the Spartan with a gentle tone.

"You would go back no matter what to the UNSC, that is admirable courage indeed, and I have no doubt that after all you have done along with Cortana, you would be welcomed back as your Humanity's greatest hero."

John gave a shake of his head and replied.

"I once told a Lieutenant in the marines this saying.' No soldier deserves to be honored for doing what his duty asks of him.' I do what I have to not for glory or recognition, I do it because I was trained to do it."

The Spectre nodded at that and Darrel was still silent and then spoke.

"No offense, but I still find it hard to believe that even all they had done to your people…our people there in your reality, you were willing to work with the Elites and those who did all that destruction. Not that I am trying to imply anything, but it's hard to imagine that you would work with them."

"I know, but we didn't have much choice in the matter, and after they learned the truth of the lies of the Prophets to their people, they were more than willing to work with us. Besides that, we did have a common enemy in both the Loyalists and the Flood themselves. I'll admit that there was plenty of tense moments there, and I certainly never trusted the Elites or the Arbiter at the time, but you can't let prejudices blind you to the true threat."

Selena then spoke.

"Do you think that the alliance between the UNSC and the Separatists would hold despite your history?"

"To be honest…I don't know, I guess I'll find out once I go back there someday."

The Asari ended the conversation and so did Darrel and they were soon joined by Jorge and Christie. The whole group decided to get something to eat and Cortana herself decided to oversee the new upgrades that were soon going to be used in the dawn since she needed something to do while also making some internal changes to accommodate not just Selena's need to communicate to the Council, but also Darrel and Christie's needs to communicate to the Alliance High Command as well. For now it seemed that things were going to be all right, but the Spartan was not the kind of person to take things at face value and he vowed to keep an eye on things.

John also began to see if he could find people who could file in the crew roster of the Dawn since there was no telling if and when they were going to need other people to make up the support staff in any possible operation that he knew that they were soon going to take part in while they were still going to be here in this reality.

…

Days later…

The Dawn was soon back in space though this time around, John was not taking the ship to either the Citadel or Arcturus station as the dawn was now field testing some of the new hardware and the three new additions to the dawn's roster were also taking part in the program. The Spartans themselves were currently placing the Frames to their paces and John knew that it was going to be a sight for the three representatives.

The very second that Darrel, Selena, and Christie saw the Frames as they were getting ready to be deployed in a weapons test in an asteroid field, they gasped at them. The Asari Spectre even commented that those were not even space fighters, but flying death traps. Both he and Jorge were amused and for good reason, they had been able to use these Frames before and they knew how to handle them. Selena was naturally terrified at the thought of actually fighting enemy ships in such things despite their fire power and even after seeing these things in action from her melding with the Spartan, she was not comforted at all be the fact that the Master Chief and his fellow Spartan II Commando knew how to use them.

Darrel and Christie were in full agreement and the Vanguard officer said that not even the craziest Alliance pilot would risk fighting in space in such a unit that had no armor at all to speak of from what she was able to see at first glance. Darrel himself said that even with all that firepower it was not something he would willingly pilot no matter how much he had been paid to do so. It was one thing to be paid to fly a fighter, interceptor, or a ship of any size, it was another thing entirely to be flying in space in an open cockpit on a flying arsenal.

Jorge snorted a bit in a good-natured fashion and replied before the two of them left the Dawn to begin the trials. To the Spartan IIs, this was equivalent to a relaxing drive through a park on bikes…though in this case, their bikes were flying arsenals of death in deep space.

"Your loss."

Afterwards, they were out blasting away several more asteroids as a field test, the new Gauss rounds from the smaller guns were more than enough to shred through several mobile targets and by all rights were a step above the usual rounds that were present in the older frames. And with a special cooling system and a better reactor system, the Gauss Cannons performed up to the standard and surpassed it at the very same time. The results were worth it in the minds of both Spartans as they continued to push the units through their combat paces.

The Dawn was between the field and a nearby Mass Relay which right now was not host to any civilian or military traffic. This would allow Cortana to maintain communications links with the Mass Relay network in an independent channel. So far there was not much traffic so she checked in on the progress of the tests. But she kept her ears open for any communications traffic that would be important enough for them to get involved. This was something she could do with little worry as she spoke to both John and Jorge while they were busy testing the Frames.

"How are those units handling gentlemen?"

John was the first to reply.

"Looks about good, the Gauss Cannons check out and so do the engines."

Jorge was the next to reply.

"Handles just fine Miss Cortana, though it's been a while since I got into one of the Frames, the last time was so long ago that I can't recall. Good to know that I haven't lost the touch just yet."

The two seemed to relax and were soon getting ready for some more maneuvering tests when Cortana contacted them and from the sound of her voice, it was urgent.

"Head back to the Dawn you two…I'm picking up a transmission."

The two Spartans wasted no time and hightailed back to the Dawn, once they were within the newly added launch bay for the Frames, the Frames were taken in by cranes and they moved off once they were able to feel the artificial gravity systems kick in. They trooped their way to the bridge and wasted no time in getting ready for whatever was going to happen.

…

In the Dawn…

As soon as they were in the bridge, they were soon joined by Selena as well as Christie and Darrel. They had been observing the situation earlier and had gotten the chance to get some rest in a hall, but when they heard that there was something that was going on. The Master Chief was already placing a standard MA5C on his back along with a M6G Magnum with basic load-outs on both weapons while Jorge carried that mammoth M249 with him but placing it on a nearby rack as he sat down on a nearby command console to monitor the Dawn's weapon network while John took the Captain's chair.

Cortana then spoke to the Spartans with a serious look on her face.

'Sorry to cut the joyrides and field testing short guys, but I got what is some sort of transmission from an Alliance Fleet operating several systems away from us. I have no idea what a Fleet is doing out that far, but apparently they seem to be under attack by another Fleet, you might need only one guess who's doing it."

"Pirates, can we hear it."

"I'll try, the data lag is pretty bad and the static from no doubt damaged communication systems isn't help either."

Cortana was soon busy trying to clear out the static and as soon as she was done with she was able send the message clear in.

"This is SSV Alaska, we are…attack by pirates….in…damn it….Kinetic barriers down, by 40 percent…we need help…"

John was quick to make his decision as he looked at the charts and began to track the location of the communiqué while Jorge and the others were already aware of what was going on. As soon as the coordinates were in John merely looked at Cortana and she also nodded as she spoke to the others.

"Hang on to something, the Dawn's about to go into combat."

The three nodded, they already realized that this was going to be the first time they were going to be able to see just what the Dawn was capable of doing in a pitched space battle. Even though they had no idea how many foes they were going to be facing this was going to be a good test for the Dawn and this would allow them to see the technology of this massive warship in action with their own eyes so they could give more accurate reports to their leaders.

…

In the sector of space…

The Alliance ships were currently under fire and were trying their best to escape, but their ships were badly overheated and needed to cool down, and the damage plus the heat made FLT very risky. The Batarian pirate fleet that was chasing them had used several high explosive yield warheads hidden in some free floating asteroids to surprise them and also hit their kinetic barriers, then they showed up and unleashed their mass accelerators on them. The first part of the Fleet that came at them was mostly Frigates that fired their disruptor Torpedoes en masse and then fired their own mass accelerators in unison with the weapons.

They countered with GARDIAN Lasers but the Cruisers of the Batarians were soon closing in and fired their own Disruptor Torpedoes as well as their own Mass Accelerators to make things even more hectic. They fired back with their own weapons and took out some of the frigates that made the majority of the first wave, but the overheating of their GARDIAN lasers rendered them unable to sustain fire and soon the heat issues began to climb. The impact of the undestroyed Disruptor Torpedoes only added to the destruction as several cruisers were badly damaged and

The Frigates soon targeted the ships once more and already they lost one civilian ship to Batarian weapons fire and with several of their ships' already hitting the danger line of their heat management systems, the Alliance had no choice but to pull back and escape to FTL. However, the Batarians were not letting up on any case and pursed them, firing all the while.

The officer who sent the message managed to keep it together, he had a wounded arm and several cuts on his face but he cared little for that and continued to issue orders to the rest of the fleet, even though a majority of the crews were injured the ship was becoming even more uncomfortable as the techs reported in.

"Captain, the heat sinks are going to be shot up at this rate!"

"Can we make the jump to FTL?"

"Negative sir! We can't since the systems are taking heat damage and we can't leave the civilian ships undefended!"

"Get me in contact with the other ships!"

As soon as the information came in, the situation got really dire, the Batarian attack had thrown the fleet into disarray and a number of the ships were already suffering from overheating issues, the drastically weakened them as the Batarians began to pour on Disruptor Torpedoes and mass accelerator rounds as well as moving in to cause more damage up close.

He had heard that the Batarians were slavers and would not hesitate to use brutal surgery techniques to implant control chips on their slaves. The idea of that done to his fellow Alliance personnel and himself was bad enough, but the idea of those four eyed alien animals doing that to unarmed civilians made him sick to his stomach. He wished that they could fire back and they did and damaged a number of the ships and give these bastard pirates a hell of a kick in their proverbial alien ass.

But with their heat level rising by the minute, they were not going to be of much help, they had no choice but to use their own ships as shields to buy time for the ships to get clear for FTL. Already the reports were coming in fast and hard and none of the news was good. Several of the Frigates were badly overheating and they were already running the redline and one had finally lost is as the ship exploded, it's heat systems finally hitting the danger-zone and melted down. Another cruiser also was reaching the redlines as it was glowing like mad as it's heat systems were already taxed to their limits.

…

"Captain…it seems we have wounded them humans, their ships can't fight back."

"Good, those arrogant humans will pay for taking the planets that rightfully belong to the Batarian people!"

The elation felt by the fanatical captain was great as he looked at the retreating ships as he and his fleet was going to strike a blow that will make the humans pay for taking the worlds that his people rightfully deserve. He and his fleet officers had been planning this attack for some time and they were now going to see this through. His force had waited for this Alliance fleet to pass by and then attacked, the increased pressure that they placed on the Alliance Fleet's heat management systems had crippled them at the right them and now these humans were going to feel the pain of being helpless while land, resources, and worlds were taken unjustly from those who truly deserved it and had a legitimate claim.

"These humans are nothing more than Blight to the galaxy, they will be made to pay for their sins!"

Many of the fanatical crew agreed with their commanding officer as their fleet closed in even more at the smell of blood in this battle. They were going to win and soon the slaves they would gain would be a good source of profit and a chance to unleash their frustration on for their race's actions.

…

However, all that was about to come to an end as two Batarian Frigates were suddenly blown apart by two streaking blasts that came out of nowhere. The crews of the frigates had little time to react as they only saw a massive glowing bolt coming at them and these were much larger than any Mass Accelerator round.

The Alliance crew also was able to see that attack and quickly tried to locate their unexpected rescuers, they were surprised to see a massive ship that was just coming out from what appeared to be a massive sphere of black nothingness. The closest ships to the unknown vessel were quick to circulate to the rest of the fleet the ship's name.

Forward Unto Dawn…

The Batarian fleet were also surprised though one cruiser, that was following the two frigates began to fire mass accelerator rounds at the ship, only to find their rounds literally bouncing off the shields as the massive came at them in a speed that was remarkable for a ship it's size. The cruiser's commanding officer orders the ship to continue firing even if they themselves were hitting the redline with their heat management systems. However, the Forward Unto Dawn came at it and soon it the Captain ordered the ship to turn back and get a better firing solution on the enemy vessel while resorting to it's broadside guns, but that did not work as the Dawn's shields were barely weakened by the more numerous rounds that were unleashed on it.

…

In the bridge…

"Two Batarian frigates down and out, I count at least a dozen cruisers of Batarian origin and at least two dozen Frigates."

John nodded as he looked at the now destroyed remains of the Batarian frigates. The very second they came out of Slipspace, he spotted the Alliance fleet already hitting redline and ordered Cortana to take out the two Batarian frigates trying to attack the retreating ships. Cortana had scanned the Alliance ships and saw that the ships in the fleet were all hitting redline in their heat systems. This was confirmed by Selena as well as Christie and Darrel.

The Spartans were told a few days before the weakness of the ships that were commonly in the military and that was overheating issues. The ships there before them could hardly fight back as their heat management systems were not doing well as the thermal scanners showed them to be literally glowing with heat and radiation. They could not fire or escape since the civilian ships were under attack as well.

"Cortana, take out that cruiser."

"Consider it scrap."

Cortana began to calculations and quickly loaded another 600 ton DU slug into the MAC Guns of the Dawn and aimed the cannons right at the Batarian cruiser that was still trying to aim at the civilian ship that had been the target of the cruiser itself. As soon as she was clear, she fired out the round.

"MAC Round firing!"

John, Jorge, Selena, Christie and Darrel felt the ship shake as the MAC Gun fired the round, the Asari and the humans watched as the high speed round from the Dawn's MAC cannon smashed hard into the cruiser's Kinetic Barriers. The three watched something that they had never seen before…the round from just one of the Dawn's MAC Guns not only tore through the Kinetic barriers like they were tissue, but rip through the cruiser from one side to the next. The end result was the ship sporting a massive hole that was soon shielded by the explosions that followed.

The Batarian cruiser had full Kinetic Barrier integrity and had excellent armor as Cruisers were the mainstay of any patrol fleet and was usually the ones who traded blows with other ships when Dreadnoughts were not present. But the Batarian cruiser was now burning down and exploding, soon the ship was cut in half by said explosions as the Dawn quickly moved away through the debris to take out the other ships from the still numerically superior Batarian fleet.

The Batarians now realized that the unknown ship was the true threat and diverted their pursuit of the badly damaged Alliance ships as well as the civilian ships they had been escorting. The Dawn was soon placing itself between the retreating fleet and the pursuing Batarians. It was here that a mobile Citadel patrol fleet of three Turian Cruisers as well as two Frigates had come on the scene, no doubt getting the message sent by the Alliance forces under attack.

However, after seeing the Dawn massacre at least three Batarian frigates and a cruiser, they decided to hang back. The Turian, Asari, and Salarian crews on the ships were curious to see how this battle would turn out, they were not the only ones as the wounded Alliance fleet turned to see how this battle would turn out.

…

In one of the Batarian Cruisers…

"DAMN IT!"

The Captain slammed his fist hard as all four of his eyes glared at the sight of the Dawn plowing through the remains of the cruiser that he had ordered to target the ships that they had targeted to raid as well as destroy to hurt the humans. This would have been a worthy battle to get even with the human race, but now this lone ship had just taken out one of their cruisers and he had every intention to make the owners of the vessel pay for every Batarian life lost. He gave the order for all ships to get closer to the enemy ship and neutralize it's main guns.

As soon as his order was relayed to all the other ships, he began to plan on how to deal with this foe before him and his fleet and had an idea.

(Let's see that ship handle this!)

He turned and roared at the chief weapons officer his new orders.

"FIRE ALL TORPEDOES!"

The officer complied and he then turned to the communications officer and ordered him to open a full com channel to the rest of the Fleet.

"FIRE EVERY TORPEDO WE HAVE AT THAT SHIP!"

…

Cortana whistled as she spotted the hailstorm of Disruptor Torpedoes that came right at them and she spoke in her usual manner.

"That many, you think they are over compensating or something?"

John replied.

"Either that or they are getting desperate. Are they tracking us?"

The A.I replied to that as she looked at the data and tactical displays.

"They are, I count at least a hundred Disruptor Torpedoes bearing down on us right now, and all of them are coming at us in a wave at least a hundred degrees from side to side. Scans show that those are the last torpedoes those ships have in their arsenals. You got any plans I should be aware of Chief?"

"Let's not give those torpedoes a chance to hit us, no sense letting the shields get hit for no reason, let's give these Batarians a surprise, prepare for Slipspace jump at close range. Fire up the Sentinel Beams and aim for the closest Disruptor Torpedoes, destroy them quickly but on my mark."

John ran all the calculations in his mind and he had no doubt that both Jorge and Cortana already had an idea on what he had in mind. One of the nastiest Covenant tricks was to actually use Slipspace to get a strategic position advantage over UNSC Fleets due to their more refined and accurate Slipspace engines. Once they did so, they would be able to bypass planetary defenses and also get behind or beside UNSC ships and unleash a rain of destruction on the ships and planets before the defensive countermeasures could be used against them.

It was ironic that the Master Chief turning this tactic to serve the UNSC, but it was going to be something that the people in this reality were not going to forget. He waited as Cortana began to move the ship and was ready on his mark, he didn't need to turn to see that Jorge was also ready for what was about to happen, though Selena, Christie and Darrel had absolutely no idea just what the three had in mind.

As soon as the Torpedoes were in range, John gave the order for Cortana execute their plan.

"Mark!"

…

The Dawn unleashed it's Sentinel Beams, Laser Turrets, and Gauss Turrets with Cortana aiming for a number of the torpedoes. The A.I managed to destroy a large number of them, ripping them to shred and unleashing a massive blast of light all over the place as more and more of the torpedoes were sent to destruction by the Dawn's close combat weapon systems. This however was the first stage as the light served to blind the people nearby.

As soon as the light faded moments later, the Batarians looked to see that the Disruptor Torpedoes had hit the exact spot that the ship had been in before and it seemed that the ship had just vanished from their scanners. The Batarians tried to locate the ship but found no trace if it, not even debris, and they began to think that maybe the ship's crew had become cowards and fled to FTL before they were annihilated. Now they all cheered as this would allow them to go after the still crippled Alliance ships and claim a victory over the Alliance.

…

The moment of elation in the Batarian ranks ended when one of the operators on the bridge shouted out a dire warning.

"INCOMING!"

The Ship was soon hit by a massive force that easily bypassed the Kinetic Barriers and soon the ship rocked with terrifying force as alarms were ringing all over the ship. They were not the only ones as three cruisers were also hit hard and fast. The crews of the ship looked to see a horde of missiles coming right at them. Their GARDIAN lasers tried to counter the barrage, but for every missile they fired at and managed to destroy, there seemed to be ten more coming right at them. Several of the smaller Frigates were easily reduced into ruins as they either were hit hard and their Kinetic Barriers failed to shield them and their GARDIANS were not able to react in time, or their own GARDIANS had overheated and damaged their systems, leaving them a lot more open for attack. A number of Frigates were either destroyed or were no longer able to fight and were too badly damaged to help in any fashion.

The Cruisers were also hit, though their much stronger Kinetic Barriers held for now. The crew turned to find that the Dawn had not retreated as it was now right on top of them and moving at high speed. The officer realized that with the Dawn diving at them they had no way to counter an attack from this angle especially when the ship had caught them completely off guard. The Dawn however was not giving them a chance to recover from the withering barrage of weapons as it closed the gap and was now moving at a diving angle to the side of at least four Cruisers with one of them firing it's broadside guns so they along with their sister ships could slow down the Dawn bring to bear their main guns.

The Dawn soon fired three MAC rounds in rapid succession from both MAC Guns as soon as it was able to locate an exact firing angle and soon six 600 ton slugs were streaking in and slamming hard into the first Cruiser still firing broadside guns.

…

The Batarians who were in the first cruiser could only look on in horror as the rounds streaked towards them and high speed and as soon as they hit, the brief hope that the Batarians felt in their Kinetic Barriers being able to shrug this attack better than their sister ship faded quickly when they saw just how massive these rounds were. The Kinetic Barriers failed instantly as they could not handle the force unleashed by the MAC rounds and the massive rounds easily tore through them. The impact of the six MAC rounds in six different areas of the lead cruiser felt like being in a level ten Earthquake for the Batarians, it was brief but for those who were unlucky enough to be in the areas where the rounds hit, it was hell.

They only saw the rapidly buckling of the ceramic armor plating of their ship before the massive rounds tore through the ship and send them to their deaths from the sheer kinetic force that rippled through their vessel. This was soon followed by explosions that ripped through their ship that sent wire, shrapnel and more all over the place until they passed through the cruiser, the shock waves literally tore sections of the ship apart and the cascading effect literally shook the ship to pieces.

The same thing happened to the three other cruisers behind the first with the last one getting hit right in the face as it were when it tried to face the direction of the Dawn and go up top to get a firing angle. The MAC rounds hit the ship with one missing but ripping through the lower hull to the ship, with all six tore through the Kinetic Barriers. The one that missed tore a massive gash on the lower hull of the ship while the other five tore into the ship…one of which actually drove into the Batarian cruiser's main cannon and the other easily tore into the bridge as well. The last thing the bridge crew of the last cruiser saw was the massive round tearing into them before they were literally blown to atomic shreds by the massive Mac round.

…

The remaining Batarians were enraged and their officers were screaming to fire more of their Mass Accelerator slugs to try and bypass the ship's shields but their attacks were not doing well enough so they concentrated their fire to a certain point. The shields of the unknown warship were still operational and taking a tremendous amount of punishment it still kept on coming and was soon facing them after making a turn.

They braces themselves for another attack from whatever weapons the ship had, but they were in for a surprise as the Dawn merely stopped and they wondered what was going on. Unknown to them, the Dawn had been able to release a small number of the newly created MORAY space mines and these were also coated with Stealth Ablative Coating to hide their signatures, couple that with their small size, they were literally melding into the background.

The Morays were already moving in and were soon so close to their ships that they were unaware that they were literally swimming in the weapons. Before they even knew what hit them, the mines exploded and strained their already weakened Kinetic Barriers. These same barriers soon fell offline and could not be recharged in time and the remaining Moray Mines were quick to move in and inflict even more damage as officers and crew were screaming out and trying to contain the unexpected assault on their ships while the unknown ship was still there looking at them as if smugly looking at their destruction from a safe distance without any worries at all.

They were not going to wait long for the Dawn to act as it moved in and fired another salvo of MAC rounds into three more Cruisers in rapid succession and to the horror of the Batarians, it did so in one go, something that no Mass Accelerator could do without causing so much heat and radiation to melt the ship into nothing but a ruined husk of slag and melted ceramic. They were barely able to scream as the rounds tore through their ships. Even if their Kinetic barriers were online, they would not have been of much help to them as the slugs punched through those with terrifying ease. Three more cruisers were instantly turned into ruins as the rounds tore through their damaged ceramic armor like it was tissue paper.

…

In the Dawn's bridge…

Cortana smiled and spoke.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel…three more cruisers are down and out."

"Good, close the distance and unleash the Missile Pods on my count once we move between the remaining ships, aim for the Frigates then the cruisers."

"Got it."

All the while the three were watching in absolute shock as the Dawn was not just winning this naval battle, but literally was ripping apart the Batarian fleet like they were nothing more than targets in a shooting range. The amount of firepower the Batarians had fired at the Dawn should have been damaging, but the ships shields shrugged off the rounds like they were jelly beans being used on a steel wall.

And the MAC Guns…being able to fire this many times…and even firing three rounds at once was unheard of! Selena turned and spoke to Jorge who was nearby and sitting in a chair overlooking the screens pertaining to the rest of the ship's systems.

"How is it this ship has not melted?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"This ship should have been suffering intense heat damage and all of us should have died from the heat and radiation. I know that this is not a ship that uses E-zero or any technology that I am familiar with from the Council and the Alliance, but still, to be able to operate under these conditions."

"Don't be surprised, it's a standard rule for all UNSC ships to be armed with a special coolant mix. This coolant is designed to handle extreme heat, and also serve as a way to keep radiation contained without becoming toxic and is reusable so there's no need to dump the coolant even if it's used constantly. UNSC ships also have special heat recycler systems to turn the heat into spare energy to serve as a backup if needed, and as such UNSC vessels don't have heat issues in most if not all cases. The Dawn's coolant has been altered to be twice as efficient, but even if it wasn't altered, the regular mix is more than adequate to keep the ship from suffering overheating issues. Chalk that up to at least five hundred years of tinkering around with weapons and ship designs. The Covenant have better coolant to deal with their use of plasma though, but for the purpose of this fight, the Dawn as the advantage of not only being able to outlast the ships outside, but to obviously outgun them too."

The Spectre was soon joined by the two Alliance humans as she spoke once more.

'And about these MAC Guns?"

Jorge then looked at the MAC Gun data and smiled as the Guns were still going strong with little damage to the core system net. He then decided to give the three lookers a brief history of the MAC Gun.

"The MAC Gun or more known as the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is the standard main weapon system of all UNSC warships from the Frigate to the Super Carriers and is trusted in ship to ship engagements. It was based on the Coil gun principles developed in the early 20th Century and the operation's the same. Basically it uses special coils around the barrel to create powerful magnetic fields to propel rounds at high speeds. They are the only non-nuclear weapons we had to equal the shield systems of the Covenant when we fought them in naval battles. Ship borne MAC Guns usually take at least three or sometimes more hits to shatter Covenant shields. That's why most officers commanding UNSC vessels have to be tactical in firing MAC Guns since it takes a while to charge up the MAC Gun to fire at full power."

"There are usually two types of MACs, the standard ship borne platform and the ones we use on Orbital Defense Platforms for planetary defense as well."

"How powerful is the first MAC type?"

Jorge turned to the three and replied.

"Ship borne MAC Guns can fire d a 600 ton slug and hit with enough force that is equal to 270 terajoules, or in nuclear terms, it's four and half times more powerful that the first nuclear weapon made in the 1940s. The Dawn apparently is armed with a pair of Modified MACs that have been upgraded to unleash at least three rounds per charge when it's usually one round per charge, plus other special rounds for more serious purposes,. Though each round is still 270 terajoules in power."

That made the three gasp a bit to themselves as they were quick to compare the damage of the MAC Gun to the regular Mass Accelerators, it was then that Christie asked the critical question to the Spartan who was still busy work concerning the last MAC weapon.

"What about the second MAC type?"

"That would be the Super MAC or the 'Big Stick' as most of us in the UNSC call them. They can propel a 3,000 ton tungsten slug at least 12,000 kilometers per second. No Covenant ship, no matter how powerful can withstand being hit by that round at that speed. In the scale of kinetic energy or joules, the Super MAC can hit with the force of 216.7 exajoules of force. In nuclear weapon load terms, that at least 51.6 gigatons of TNT going boom. Another way to put it is that it's at least three and nearly a half million times more powerful than the first nuclear weapon made by man. One Super MAC round can rip through a Covenant Super Carrier with ease and either rip apart or critically damage another ship behind the said target."

"Problem with the Super MACs is that they have power restrictions so they're not used on ships and require ground side power-plants to provide the power. No UNSC ship can mount one yet and that's why we normally use those for defensive operations and never offensive ones. They are too expensive in resources, man power, and power supply to make them portable for ship usage. Shame too, it would have been a major edge for the UNSC to have even a handful of ships armed with the Super MACs during the war."

The three were silent as they were processing the information carefully, and when they were finally done, they felt themselves grow cold at the implications of such weapons in action. It was at this point however that John spoke out to them all.

"Everyone brace for impact."

…

The reason was obvious as several of the surviving Frigates piloted by the Batarians tried a suicide charge to try and defeat the Dawn and avenge their comrades, already the vast majority of the cruisers were no longer going to be of much threat the UNSC/Forerunner hybrid warship. The Dawn was soon hit as the Frigates continued to fire until they slammed into the shields of the Dawn while others were destroyed by the Dawn's weapons.

The Dawn was soon hit by the Frigates that were not destroyed and soon the ruined husks of the ships were everywhere and the lone surviving Batarian cruiser was still there, trying to fire a few more Mass Accelerator slugs into the ship. The Frigates slammed hard into the Dawn and the crew of the last Batarian cruiser looked on, hoping desperately that the unknown ship was finally destroyed. They had no other choice but to turn back as their ship was too badly damaged to be of anymore use in a fight but at least they were able to witness the fall of this ship.

That idea however died as the dawn came out from the still glowing mass of light from exploding E-zero cores of their comrades' destroyed ships, and there seemed to be not a single scratch on the ship itself, the Dawn charged in and before the utterly shocked and demoralized crew of the cruiser could react, they were greeted by a hail of missiles from the ship along with a pair of MAC rounds that tore into the body of their ship with ease and the remains were easily blown apart by the missiles as they smashed into the still separating ship. The explosion that came afterward was the final nail in the coffin of the Batarian forces as not a single ship was left.

The Dawn was triumphant against the force that it faced and was soon moving into the portal and leaving everything and everyone else behind, heading back to Reach or possibly making some runs before going to either the Citadel or Arcturus Station.

…

The sight before the Alliance fleet was both beautiful and awe inspiring despite the still present heat in the ships. In less than ten minutes, they had watched the Batarian assault fleet get turned into floating wrecks by the Dawn and it looked as if it barely got a scratch as it was now moving back into the same sphere that it had come out from and was soon gone. The crews of the Alliance warships were looking on and when they were able to see that their recording systems were able to record the entire battle, they were already heading back to Arcturus Station to report their findings.

They were not the only ones as the crew of the Citadel Patrol Fleet had also recorded the whole battle. As soon as they were done, the crew members were already talking about what they had just witnessed before their eyes.

The Turians were not very happy by what they had seen as the idea of one ship beating the tar out of a Fleet was unheard of and to know that it was owned by a human was not very reassuring though there were some of them who were interested to see how the ship actually worked.

The Asari crew members were already trying to find out all they could about the ship, they knew that one of their race's Spectre members was there on the ship as an observer, and they had a feeling that she had a lot to tell.

As for the Salarians, they were already looking at the records of the battle and were talking rapidly at the numbers and statistics they were able to pull off, they all knew that as soon as the Council got wind of this and as soon as their data came in, it was going to cause a hell of a mess back in the Citadel.

However, the Alliance and the Citadel were not the only ones who were witnessed to the Dawn kicking the holy hell out of the Batarians.

…

In a ship hiding a good distance from the battle…

Miranda Lawson was not the kind to be easily impressed by anything and anyone, she was dedicated and professional to the task at hand. And her dedication to the goals of Cerberus was not the kind one could easily question. However, what she had just witnessed had made an impression as she raised an eyebrow at the video footage once more.

The ship she was on was a small but well made vessel used by Cerberus as a recon ship to keep track of any developing situation. It was not a stealth vessel in most ways, but since it had excellent long range sensor systems and scanners, it could record events while keeping away from other ships.

The Cerberus officer looked at the footage detail by detail, frame by frame and her mind was working on what to make of it all. She activated her omni-tool and began to use it and her intelligence to solve the questions on how one ship had managed to take down that many vessels and come out unmarked. She knew that the dawn's technology was not native to this reality, but even an 'alien' ship like that SHOULD have taken some damage at least. But the images showed nothing, none of the usual factors that affected Space combat for all navies had been recorded on the Dawn.

This served to increase the mystery of the Spartan, his A.I companion, and the technology they had at their disposal, and the rumors of another Spartan armed with high technology also added more fuel to the fire. Once she was done, she couldn't but actually feel some level of worry at the statistics. These calculations were made by her so she had no reason to doubt them at all, and what they told her about the overall weapon systems of the Dawn was that this was one ship that would be a literal king maker.

(Such firepower for a ship that is supposed to be a Frigate…if that is what a Frigate class ship of the UNSC is able to do, I shudder at what their other ship classifications can do.)

Miranda then gave the order to pull back, and while there were other projects that had to be done, one of which was being supported by Cerberus but would be useful for the Alliance and the Citadel, she had no doubt that the data she and her crew had obtained from this battle in space was going to be a critical piece to the puzzle.

It seems that there was more to be gained by observing the Spartan than just trying to capture him, but she was more interested now to catch the man, and somehow convince him to side with his fellow humans. She was looking forward to that, not to mention that despite it being juvenile in some ways, she was eager to test herself against this Spartan if and when the time came.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, we got the fight in space over and done with, I'm no expert in naval battles so I had to make the battles as close to a naval engagement as possible. If this is up there with the kinds of ship battles that are able to make the grade, then I am happy, but if not, then I'll make sure to learn from the mistakes I made and make the next battle a lot more believable the next time I make a scene that naturally involves the Dawn fighting with other ships.

So far, we get to see just how the Dawn stacks up in a straight up fight with a fleet of ships ranging from cruisers and frigates. And it seems that the Dawn is going to have a serious role later on. In essence, it is a ship that is more than enough to give most fleets a run for their money. And we also learn that Christie was in the same boat as Kaidan as she was a first generation Biotic and like the soon to be member of Shepard's crew she joined the Alliance military, but unlike Kaidan, Christie has an axe to grind against aliens, though it's not enough to make her xenophobic just yet.

I have resurrected both the Sabres and the Frames along with the Longswords to add some extra fuel to the fires and they too will get some action, though they will be piloted not just by the Spartans, but by other soon enough, though you can bet that there will be a good deal of people who are not going to be keen on the idea of flying in the Frames, for obvious reasons.

And before I get asked this question, yes I will have new crew members soon so expect the dawn to get a bit more…full. And also the female reporter will be coming in soon enough so hold your horses or whatever manner of propulsion you have on hand at the moment.

…

Now most of the time, I know that there will be some people who will complain to me that I am making the races in Mass Effect look like pansies or weaklings due to the technological difference between them and the UNSC. And they would say I am overpowering the MAC Guns and making the Mass Accelerators of Mass Effect look like peashooters.

I decided to show the data so everyone gets the information and get this out of the way so I won't be bothered by it. This is basically us stacking the Mass Accelerator weapons of Mass Effect against the Magnetic Accelerator Cannons of the UNSC as these are the ones that see action.

…

First, let's talk ammunition for the two types of ship born weapons:

The ammunition of the Mass Accelerators of the ships in the ME universe usually comprise of titanium and or tungsten slugs, while the ammunition used by the UNSC MAC Guns depends on the platform, ships normally using tungsten or depleted uranium, while platform MACs like the ODPs usually use specialized tungsten rounds.

The differences between the ammunition is the mass involved, the Dreadnoughts of the ME universe use a 20 kg slug that can go at least 4025 km/s which is 1.3 the speed of light and has the force of at least 38 kilotons of TNT, which is three times the power of Little Boy. This is the power a Dreadnought has, but there is no data on the power possessed by cruisers, frigates, and carriers in terms of their main guns so I can't be sure how powerful their weapons were. But it can be said that by measuring the length of the ships, we can get an idea of the length of their Mass Accelerators, who we can scale down the rounds as well.

In the case of the UNSC however, the standard UNSC MAC Gun system uses a 600 ton slug and can fire it at the speed of at least 30,000 meters per second which translates to the slug reaching speeds of at least 30 km/s as a rough estimate. Now while that means that the MAC rounds might be slower than the rounds fired by the majority of the ships of the ME universe, they have much greater force as a standard 600 ton MAC round has 270 terajoules of impact force. 60 terajoules is equal to Little Boy which means that a standard MAC round has at least four and nearly a half times the destructive power of Little Boy, and this means that any unshielded Covenant Ship is in serious danger as one shot can destroy them if aimed in the right spot.

And that is just the basic MAC Gun system, the Super MACs fire a full 3,000 ton tungsten slug that moves at 12,000 km/s, and impacts at a force of at least 51.6 gigatons of TNT. In real life, the math shows that being hit by one of these rounds is like being hit with at least 216.7 exajoules of energy. That translates to at least 3,423,829 times the energy unleashed by Little Boy. So even if there is a Kinetic Barrier powerful enough to block such a shot, the thermodynamic energy released by the impact will literally cook the ship inside the shield and vaporize it.

So we can say that while the Mass Accelerator rounds have greater speed and acceleration, they don't have the overall force and damage power of the MAC rounds and as such, the UNSC MAC rounds can easily slice through Kinetic Barriers, even those of a Dreadnought.

Another major problem is that while the Mass Acceleration rounds can be faster due to being lighter, they have to collapse through either squashing or shattering to impart any destructive energy into their targets to cause any damage since if they don't, they would just cut through the targets and. pass through without causing damage, which is due to their weight and mass. UNSC MAC rounds on the other hand have more than enough kinetic energy to impart on any target to cause serious damage due to mass and weight and as such, are deadly on their own..

Thus in terms of acceleration and range, the rounds of the Mass Accelerators in the ME universe win over the UNSC MAC rounds. But in terms of overall destructive force and mass, the UNSC MAC rounds win.

…

Next and last, we discuss a pair of factors that work hand in hand, these being heat management and recoil.

For the ships in the Mass Effect universe, the biggest problems for them when it comes to being in ship to ship battles are heat management and recoil.

In the first category, if the Mass Accelerators continue to fire, the ship will eventually generate massive amounts of heat, which if not dealt with, can actually fry the ship's internal systems and super structure, turning a ship into a melted wreck with the crew either cooked in their own juices or incinerated. With radiation being the only way to shed heat, the ships usually have three ways to do that.

The first is the use of ceramic strips on the hull that are called Diffuse Radiator Arrays which can give a strip pattern on the ship when viewed by thermal imaging systems from a planet's surface. This give tiger stripes of war paint on ships so it had a mental effect enemy forces on the ground.

The second is the use of delicate and easily damaged panels on civilian ships which can shed more heat than the first but can be easily damaged than the latter.

The third and last is droplet cooling systems that use special chemical solutions to absorb waste heat and these are released from the ship and recollected by special filters to repeat the process. This is only found on highly advanced and newly built ships and as such, is rarer than the other two, but more efficient.

Even with these features however, ship battles are limited by heat as the intense battles can put severe stress on the heat management systems. Firing high powered Mass Accelerators, GARDIAN Lasers and more can build up heat quickly, along with using maneuvering thrusters, and onboard electronics. This means that ships have to either win the fight or pull out as the heat build up with go from uncomfortable to lethal. This is even more pronounced in battle fields where stars are present which can contribute heat in the battle ground to make things even worse for the ships on either side.

The next issue is recoil, namely due to the fact that despite mass effect fields being able to cut recoil when the weapons are fired, recoil energy is still present and that can still rattle crew members and damage systems in the ship that are not hardened for such damage.

For the UNSC, there seems to be no issue in terms of heat and recoil, though ODPs are armed with thrusters in the back to counter the recoil incurred when the Super MAC fires. UNSC Ships can fire once their capacitors charge to full capacity so they are able to unleash a higher volume of rounds and can fire their MAC Guns at half charge though they sacrifice range and velocity.

With recoil not being an issue due to special reinforcement and not having heat issues possibly due to advanced heat management features such as coolants, UNSC Ships can unleash a storm of rounds though that is limited if the shields of their targets cannot be taken down easily and depending on other factors such as ship storage capacity for MAC rounds as well as weight and size of the rounds. This is a serious fact as shielded Covenant ships need to be hit several times by standard MACs or en masse to break down their shields to leave them vulnerable so UNSC ship commanders or captain have to be strategic in firing their rounds when facing the energy shielded ships of the Covenant. Only Super MACs have no problem whatsoever in turning even Covenant Super-carriers into nothing but burning wreckage on the first shot

So in terms of heat management and recoil that boils down to battle endurance, the UNSC MACs have the victory over the ME Mass Accelerators.

…

That's about it for now, we can have more discussions soon enough on the technology between the two universes at a better time. If anyone wants to confirm the data, be my guest. If you want to refute it, then say so and check out the data for yourselves in the websites that is dedicated to giving canonically accurate information.

And if I get complaints from those who want 'realism', keep in mind we are talking about two gaming universes here and I am working with that data that I can find that is canonically confirmed. So if you have issues, please take it up with the game designers and companies and not me, after all, I don't own either company that makes these games.

Do that and we'll get along fine…don't do it, then it's no longer my concern and you're wasting both my time and your breath.

…

Bye!


	8. Recruitment Drive

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 7

Recruitment Drive…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Citadel…

The Master Chief and Jorge were currently working on getting rid of some more of the excess supplies that they had gathered recently and the Citadel was currently the best place to drop off the supplies that they didn't need all that much. Besides that, they were here to deal with the latest fiasco that they were involved in. The two Spartans had no doubt that rumors of their battle with the Batarians were already spreading through the Citadel and as such, it was only going to be a matter of time before they were going to be called back to this place to tell the Council and the Alliance as well of what had happened in the battle with the Batarians.

As they sold the last of the merchandise, they decided to wait and see just what would be the results of the reports handed by their respective observers. They would be more than willing to talk to the Council and see just how they can assure the Councilors that they were not going to turn those weapons on the Council and the same could be said for the Alliance. They then decided to move out and explore the other areas of the Citadel as there was no word yet from the observers that they were supposed to meet either the Council or the Alliance. Jorge then turned around to speak to his commanding officer.

"How do you think they'll take the video clips of the battle sir?"

"Honestly…I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be very interested in keeping an eye on us from here on out."

"I suppose, at any rate, let's hope that we can get a chance to rest before we have more people breathing down our necks."

"Roger that sir."

"And if we're lucky, find some new crew to add, I did say to the Council that I will take in members of their races when I wish to."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't like it that much either Jorge, but we will be all right, besides, we're not going to pick people randomly, they have to be the kind we need, not the kind the Council or the Citadel wants us to have."

Jorge nodded at that as they moved on to explore the rest of the area.

The two Spartans moved around while they were armed with M7S SMGs, most people looked at them and a few odd whispered here and there. These were naturally ignored by the Spartans and they were soon before a place that looked like some sort of club, they had no idea just what this place was in the Lower Wards, but John considered that he had heard that this place was not the best place to be in if you were not the kind to watch one's back and had one's hand's next to a weapon.

…

In the Council chambers…

As the three Councilors watched that battle between the Dawn and the Batarian fleet that tried to attack the Alliance Fleet and had nearly succeeded in their attack as well as the humans were caught off guard and unable to fight back effectively. That is until the Dawn came in and began to slaughter them with seemingly little difficulty. The most telling evidence that got the attention of the Councilors was how the ship still managed to hold it's own and inflict considerable damage on the forces before them. They took a great deal of interest when they saw the MAC Guns in action and seeing them fire repeatedly without the Dawn seemingly harmed, they observed the Forerunner Missile Pods in action.

Once the images ended, they turned to face Selena and the Salarian Councilor that was first to speak.

"It seems that the Dawn is proving to be a deadly vessel."

The Asari nodded and the Turian grumbled somewhat at the sight and the Asari Councilor spoke to the Asari Spectre.

"What have your learned about the Dawn Spectre Selena?"

"It's is as I have stated before a warship in every sense of the word. It may not have the attractive lines of the ships made by our people Councilor, and it does not have the predatory lines of the Turian ships, and also does not have the same appearance of Salarian built vessels, and it is not the kinds of ships built by the Alliance in any way. However what it lacks for looks it makes due to with firepower and force."

"The main armaments are two main cannon which the Spartans called as Magnetic Accelerator Cannon or the MAC Guns. They have some similarities to the Mass Accelerators we use on our own ships, but are very different and possess a far different mode of power than Mass Accelerators. They do not function using E-zero and while the purpose they are built for is the same as our Mass Accelerators, they have a far different level of power."

Selena then explained what she had learned from Jorge about the two types of MAC Guns used by the UNSC and how they stacked to the Mass Accelerators used by the Council and the Alliance as well as the majority of the races in their reality. The Councilors had to admit that the information was not exactly very reassuring to them and the idea of a Frigate armed with firepower that equaled a Dreadnaught and the other weapons such as the Forerunner Missile Launchers, Gauss Turrets, Sentinel Beams, and the Laser Turrets, and the still unknown technology that was there on that ship, certainly didn't ease the feelings that were stirring in their collective guts. As soon as Selena was done with her report, the Salarian Councilor then spoke seriously about the information before them.

"This can prove to be a problem, this ship is a major threat if it falls in the hands of those who might be more than willing to use it's weapons and technology on others. We may need to rethink how we can deal with the situation before us when it concerns the ship itself."

The Turian turned and replied.

"What exactly do you have in mind? We have indeed agreed to give the Spartans their neutrality, any action to take that neutrality away will not be taken well by the two of them and their A.I companion."

"We won't take that neutrality away, but we may need to have to send some of our people there apart from Spectre Selena."

Selena wondered where that had come from and she couldn't help but speak her mind about this.

"Is there something wrong with the reports that I send to the Council?"

The Salarian shook his head and replied.

"We are not saying that your reports are not accurate, but this information is not something that can be easily forgotten, neither should it be ignored as well. That is why it is better we have some more people there of gather all the data we can find if possible and then we can be in a much better level of understanding about the ship and the Spartans themselves."

This did not quite sit well with Selena as she had a feeling that unless the Spartans agreed to such an idea, they might not take well to this kind of planning by the Council. She also had a feeling that since it took a while for her to gain their trust, it would look bad to them if they were now suddenly forced to take in new faces. She then recalled what the Master Chief had stated before when he declared that he was going to be an independent party and saw that this might be the best course of action that could be taken without angering the Spartans themselves.

"Councilors, we must not forget that it took some time for me to gain their trust, especially when it came to showing their base of operations to me. They will not look kindly being forced to take in others, and even if the Council does compel them, they will not look favorably at this, even if they do agree to it."

The Asari Councilor nodded at that and spoke to her colleagues.

"Spectre Selena has a point, to force them to take in new observers is not something that should be done as this will not be acceptable to them."

The Turian Councilor then replied.

"I will have to agree on this matter for now…however, I suppose there is a compromise in this somewhere."

Selena nodded and spoke seriously about the idea that she had in her mind.

"I believe that since the Master Chief has indeed stated that he is willing to take in others not just from the Alliance, but from the Citadel member races that he will personally screen himself, we should also ask those selected by them if they are willing to act as observers to the Spartans for the Council itself."

The three considered that and saw that it did have some level of feasibility. They knew however that there was a chance that the Alliance was going to be thinking under those very same lines and that was something that was going to make things rather interesting for all of them.

…

In the Human Embassy…

As Udina and Anderson looked at the records of the battle provided to them by Christie and Darrel when they arrived at the Embassy to give their reports for the Alliance, they were amazed at how the battle had turned into the favor of the Spartan in such a quick pace. The MAC Guns were in part very interesting and to learn that this was actually the ship's standard main weapon load-out was a bit chilling. Even so, both men had to admire how the ship performed, though for very different reasons than most would think and see as well.

Udina wondered if there was a chance that they could get their hands on the schematics on these MAC Guns and see if they could be used on their own ships. This was not the same as having the Dawn, it's technology, Cortana, and the Spartans with the Alliance, but he knew that he had to make due with what he could and look to find another angle in which to at least convince the Spartans to join the Alliance full time.

As for Anderson, he smiled in admiration for the Dawn's power, he knew enough that the Dawn was not a ship made by the Alliance and carried a great deal of technology that was not native to the Alliance and it was also infused with alien technology. But it was still amazing to see that ship decimate a much larger fleet by itself though he was going to ask just what was the Spartan planning in the battle due to using the Dawn's jump abilities that might reveal too much of itself.

As soon as the video clips were done, Udina sighed a bit and spoke out to Anderson.

"Anderson, do you have any idea of the implications of this?"

"I'm sure that it is going to make more than a few eyebrows and more in Council space rise in surprise and worry. But I can see that having the Spartan independent is a good idea. If we had him in the Alliance, there's no doubt in my mind that many of the elements in the Citadel will look at this in a very dangerous fashion and will consider this a negative move by the Alliance."

Udina was silent and Christie then spoke out to the Captain and the Ambassador.

"Even if he's not with the Alliance, I can tell that he is more than truthful in his desire to defend humanity even if not part of the Alliance. Considering that, his presence as well as his abilities and the technology that we have been able to test, he is more than welcome as an ally. "

Darrel nodded and spoke as well.

"I agree in that regard. The technology he and his fellow Spartan and that A.I companion of theirs have in their hands is more than welcome. I personally feel that he is going to be a great ally, even though he is not part of the Alliance."

Udina could see that this was not going to be in his favor, but he knew that he still had to make some points clear to the others who were in his office.

"Be that as it may, we may need to have more people from the Alliance or those we can trust with anything important to keep an eye on the Spartans and learn as much as they can. I am not saying that those selected are incapable, but having more eyes and ears can be helpful and there is no doubt that after seeing this, the Council will do the same."

Anderson nodded reluctantly at that as he could see that Udina had a point despite the fact that the man knew that the Ambassador had other reasons for this. However, he decided that it would be best for all involved if this was discussed and officially recognized. He only hoped that the Spartans and Cortana were agreeable to the idea of having more people with them. He knew that the Master Chief had already mentioned that he would take in members from not just the Alliance but from the Council races as well to show that he was willing to work with those who were not his enemies, but not humans as well.

Now they needed to get the Spartans into the discussion once they talked it over with the Council to make sure that all sides were agreeable to the idea. In a way however, he had to find this amusing to some degree, the Spartans may wish to do their part, but in doing so, they had made quite the impression in a galaxy that was not even their own by any standard.

The one question in Anderson's mind was where the men were right now.

…

John looked the Turian over and wondered just what the case was for this one as he and Jorge were currently in a place called Chora's Den in the Lower Wards, they were here not to relax as most would, but only move around to get acquainted with the place and see where else in the Citadel they would need to go one day into the future. Their first impressions of the place were not exactly the kind that spoke of approval.

Neon lights, loud music, an odd smell, Asari dancers in skin tight clothing, and the smell of alcohol all over the place, this was enough to tell the Spartans that this was one place one had to be wary of. And for good reason as they noted that a good number of the people here carried a good deal of weapons. Normally having bouncers in a club was normal, but not when they happened to Krogan and also carrying heavy weapons and armor, something was up but the Spartans ignored them for now.

Their focus was on the Turian who happened to be in the middle of what appeared to be something of an argument with a number of humans who were all wearing the colors one associated with gang members. Though neither of them were experts in Turian body language, they could tell that the Turian was showing a good deal of annoyance towards the humans. The only difference was that the humans were the ones who started the argument. Both Spartans decided to observe instead of interfering to see just how this was going to turn out.

Most people would think that since they were defenders of humanity, the Spartans would side with the gang of humans to attack the Turian. But that was not the case as they saw that the Turian had not started the fight and was trying to relax and enjoy himself until the human gangs came in and began to insult the Turian and goad him into something bad. The Spartans also noted that the gang in question happened to have the signs of being drunk and high on some sort of drug to make them this aggressive.

The two of them were in their MJOLNIR Mark X and carried only M7S SMGs and left their heavier weapons back in the Dawn which was currently on lock down by Cortana who opted to remain behind in the Dawn to keep an eye on things in the ship. They also used their MJOLNIR's audio sensors to listen in on the conversation that was going between the Turian and the human gangs, and none of the conversations sounded the least bit good.

However it seemed that the Turian was keeping a calm head and seemed to be trying his best to diffuse the situation and avoid a fight with the humans.

"I said that I had nothing to do with Shanxi, my unit was not even assigned in the fleet that attacked the planet."

"You lie Turian!"

"I don't lie, you know nothing of my people that much do you?"

"Yeah right, you split cheeked idiots are all the same."

"Really? Then you should know we Turians happen to be responsible enough to admit to our actions when prompted. And I am saying to you and your group that I was not at Shanxi nor did I take part in any action against your race."

This went on for a lot longer until one of the gang members took out a pistol and was about to fire that the Turian. The Turian quickly reacted and actually revealed that he was a Biotic and restrained the gang member and quickly drew out his own pistol and aimed it at the next gang member who tried to reach for his own weapon. The Turian then looked at the other gang members and spoke seriously.

"Don't make me fight you all, I did not come here for a fight."

"Oh yeah? Too bad for you then since you've gotten yourself into one!"

But before the gang members could react, there were two massive figures behind them and a deep voice greeted them.

"Drop your weapons."

They turned to find that the Spartans behind them and while the Spartans were not reaching for their weapons, their mere presence was enough to halt most of the gang members. However the Spartans were still very weary of them since there was no doubt that since they were both drunk and high on something that was no doubt going to make them aggressive. Added to the fact that they were drunk made them a lot more dangerous.

The leader looked at the Spartan and replied.

"Who the hell…are you?"

Jorge then replied to that in a stern tone of voice.

"The ones who are going to toss you out of this place personally unless you sober up and behave, this Turian said that he and his unit had nothing to do with Shanxi so stop pestering him."

The humans looked at the Spartans and replied in the fashion that John and Jorge expected for drunkards and drug users. They reached for their weapons, and were about to fight. The Spartans took out their M7S SMGs in lightning speed and fire their weapons, hitting them in the foreheads and they dropped like flies.

The Turian looked on in surprise and so did everyone else as the Turian placed aside his weapon and removed the Biotic Field he used on the human to check on the others. But to his surprise, they were all alive and breathing as he looked at the giants before him.

"They're still alive."

John nodded and replied.

"We shot them with Tranquilizer Rounds; they'll be up and about in a few hours or so. More than enough time to have them taken in by C-Sec and make sure that they sober up and keep themselves from getting into even more trouble."

The Turian looked relieved somewhat and got up as a C-Sec patrol came in and the leader was an Asari this time around as she looked over to the bartender.

"What happened here?"

The bartender who happened to be a human being recovered from his surprise replied.

"These guys were harassing this Turian and were about to use their weapons on him when he tried to defend himself, then these guys in armor came in. They tried to reason with the gang, but they didn't listen and got shot for it. They seem to be alive though, and don't seem to be moving."

The Asari looked a bit surprised and looked at the Spartans, she knew of them already and had thought she was going to see a blood bath, but when her fellow C-Sec officers confirmed that the human gang members were still very much alive and breathing, she looked at them with some level of surprise and relief and spoke to them.

"Thanks for not killing them, they might be a pain in the neck, but at least they didn't go down like those you guys have killed. I heard about that human group you took down and then those Krogan so the second I saw you guys, I thought the worst had happened. You have no idea how much paper work you two saved me from making today on my first job too."

Jorge replied to that with a shrug.

"Not a problem ma'am."

John replied as well.

"Likewise."

The Asari then motioned for her colleagues to get the still unconscious gang members and carry them to C-Sec, some did not like that idea but they didn't complain for too long and soon they were hauled off and soon the atmosphere in Chora's Den seemed to get back to normal. The Turian got up and gave a slight nod to both John and Jorge as he spoke.

"Thanks for getting them off my back, I was not in the mood to fight them even if they ruined my break. The name's Jaisandrex, former member and second in command officer of the 24th Cabal Specialist Unit of the Turian Hierarchy, but you can call me Jai if it's all right with you?"

Both Spartans nodded and Jai decided to pick up his drink and take it down and smiled.

"Have to admit this Nova ale's pretty good, just about the only human drink that goes down well into my people's gut without giving us real problems. You guys care to join me? I do owe you two a drink for stepping in and stopping the whole mess from coming down on me?"

Jorge shook his head and John replied.

"No thank you, but do you mind if we talk to you?"

Jai nodded and replied.

"Sure thing, though I take it you two prefer to stand?"

Both Spartans nodded and that was when John decided to ask a few questions to Jai, namely about who he was.

"Well, I'm a Biotic as you have seen already, most Turians don't have Biotic potential and those like me who have them are considered too valuable to be lost in the front lines. So we're assigned to Specialist units known as Cabals. Biotic gifted Turians aren't trusted by the common soldier despite our skills and abilities in the field so we're formed into our own units."

John nodded and then checked his files pertaining to the Turian military doctrine and spoke.

"I read in the Codex that Turian Officers and NCOs are 'lifers' so why did you leave your unit?"

Jai looked at his drink and replied solemnly.

"We were on a combat assignment to deal with a rogue force of Batarians, we were attached to another unit and our task was to help counter any possible attacks by pirate forces that might be moving around the area. They came out and attacked us with Drones first and then with snipers and gunships. My unit was able to cut them down and call for air support and we called for armor support as well as artillery. But we were surrounded and the pirates knew how to fight us as they surrounded us. My CO was killed and I took command in that battle."

"By the time the battle ended, my unit was nearly wiped out since the pirates who attacked us were using some sort of gas that had some sort of inhibitive effect on our Biotics. Add to the fact that they surrounded us and hammered us for a long time and cut our retreat, we were finished. Only three of my unit including myself remained. Command wanted us to remain and have our unit rebuilt, but I guess… I felt that I can't do it anymore and so I gave my resignation. I thought those under my command would not abide by it, but they did. We then went our separate ways afterwards and I came here, thinking about finding some other work like being in a private security company or serve as a security specialist even in C-Sec."

John nodded and so did Jorge as they understood what the Turian Biotic was going through as they had seen UNSC Marines as well as Army, Navy, and even ODSTs. Losing or nearly one's entire unit was a serious psychological blow to any member of a military group. And from what they understood about the Turians, it was never easy to work with a new group of people, it would not feel the same as before.

Jorge spoke once more.

"You've been with your team for some time?"

Jai nodded and replied.

"At least ten years and half before that hellish ambush, I lost contact with them afterwards and I have no way of knowing where they ended up. I am looking for work and hope that I can make things better somehow."

Jorge looked at John and the lead Spartan decided to ask a few more questions.

"You ever served in the force that was in Shanxi?"

"No, my unit was assigned elsewhere at the time so we were not part of the force that was either there to occupy Shanxi or the force that was assembled for all out war after the occupation force was kicked out by Alliance forces. So unlike other veterans who dislike humans, I don't really know much about the human race…though I have met the ones who are not exactly caring for my race."

The two Spartans remained silent and then the Turian felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation and wondered what he should do. He had heard about the Spartans due to the rumor mill that had been going on, and he did hear about the time that they had taken out a Batarian fleet of fanatics that had caught the Alliance off guard and tried to terminate them. Their ship had supposedly come in to save the humans and then took off afterwards and while he was thankful that they had helped him avoid a possible incident that would not have been very helpful indeed. But he was still a bit worried about what they were going to do, but he decided to say what he was thinking lest they took his actions the wrong way.

"Look, I…appreciate the actions you two took earlier, and you seem like the good sorts of people…but unless you have other business with me, I really should be going."

"We do have a proposition."

"Oh?"

John then spoke seriously.

"We need to have a skilled member of our ship and since you seem to be in need of a place to work in. Do you mind working with us?"

The Turian was surprised by this and the look on his face was evident to both Spartans and Jorge spoke next.

"We're not going to force you to work with us right away, we will ask you to observe and decide if you want to work with us. Also, does the Turian Hierarchy have your unit's records in their files?"

"Yes, every Turian that serves in the Hierarchy military has their records and that of their unit logged and recorded, and naturally Cabals are not exempted from that rule. Why do you ask?"

John and Jorge then motioned him to follow them out of the bar, no one stopped them and some of the Turians looked on with a bit of worry, thinking that this was the last time they were going to see their fellow Turian alive. However, they were mistaken as the two Spartans explained things to him and after a while when they reached the floor where the elevator would take them to the Upper Wards, the Turian spoke.

"You want me to work as part of your crew and be an independent observer to the Council if I wish to or if they ask me to? Don't you already have a Spectre for that particular line of work?"

John replied.

"That's true, but an independent report from a member of their member races can help bolster things for them to look at. Besides, considering your record and the fact that you have had no prior experience with humans and as such, have no prejudices could add a level of neutrality to your report should they ask for it. All we need to do is convince the Council of your taking a position as an observer as well as a member of the Dawn's new crew and we can see how that will play out, unless they actually have the same idea we do. Besides, this will at least put your talents to good use and you can do a good deal of things."

"And if I refuse?"

John then replied.

"It's your call, we present the idea to the Council and if you agree then you're in, if you refuse, then the matter is settled, and we won't bother you again, though naturally you are naturally given a warning not to tell anyone of that meeting. We won't force you to work with us, this is a strictly volunteer outfit and if you're worried about payment, we already have some plans on how best to handle that situation in a more unique manner."

Jai chuckled a bit at that as he had a…what was that term used by humans again? Ah, it was a 'feeling in the gut' that they were telling the truth.

"All right, I don't know much about you, but I'll agree to this for now, besides, all those rumors I heard about you Spartans are rather…interesting and I'm keen to see if all that is…"

Those words were cut short when they spotted a Turian walking about and suddenly collapse on the floor. The three moved to the alien and saw that he was reeking of something alcoholic and seemed to be out cold. But not before the Turian turned and began to vomit and release a colored amber liquid from his mouth.

The sight of the drunk and now puking Turian made all three of them cringe at the sight as well as the smell and Jai replied with some level of disappointment.

"Great, he must have drank a large amount of Turian spirits."

Jorge turned and spoke.

"You recognize him?"

"Not really, but the rank bar on his vest tells me that he is one of my people who operates air borne support for planetary operations. He looks alive, that means he didn't drink that much and should be at least a bit sober, but I think waking him up might prove to be a problem."

John looked at Jorge and the big Spartan nodded as he and John grabbed the Turian and lifted him up and took him to the nearest clinic to sober him up and figure out who he was.

…

As soon as they got to the clinic, the door opened and a human doctor came out. She looked at the behemoths carrying an apparently drunken Turian with another following them and she replied.

"Good heavens! What happened here?"

"It's a long story, uh…"

"Dr. Chloe Michel , I run the clinic here."

"Thank you ma'am, as to who we are, I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, this is my fellow Spartan Chief Warrant Officer- Spartan 052."

"Oh…and you are?"

Jai knew that it was a question directed to him and he replied respectfully.

"Jaisandrex, former second commanding officer of the 24th Cabal Specialist Unit of the Turian Hierarchy, just call me Jai Dr. Michel."

Michel nodded as she looked at the Turian and as soon as he was in the bed, she quickly began to look for some medication for countering the effects of drunkenness. Once she found the medication, she wasted little time in placing it on the Turian through the neck area with an injector, the drug was a fast acting agent designed to counter the effects of drinking by purging the alcohol from the system and was developed to serve as a way for soldiers to sober up after a night at the bar, which usually a pain in the neck when they were soon going to be on a mission. This particular drug was custom tailored for Turian biology and it's effects were immediate as the Turian stopped moving and seemed to be relaxed.

John wasted little time and took out a large amount of water that he knew had no ill effects on Turians and tossed into the Turian's face. The unconscious Turian quickly woke up and sputtered and swore in his people's native language. As soon as he recovered, the Turian turned to stare at the ones who threw the liquid into his face.

"Who the hell?"

As soon as he recovered, he found himself staring at a female human doctor, a fellow Turian, and two massive giants in armor. He looked surprised and apparently didn't expect to find himself in a situation like this one. He shook his head once more and then spoke in a less slurry tone, showing that the medication to counter his drunkenness from before was now working to get him sober.

"Oh…either I'm dreaming or I got drunk again."

Jorge replied.

"It's the latter case, who are you?"

"Tarrek Rayne Lieutenant of the 45th Airborne Cavalry Regiment, or I guess I had been."

Jai then replied.

"I heard of your unit, they were the ones who had fought in the Krogan Rebellions a number of years ago. I heard your unit suffered heavy casualties in one of the key worlds when the Krogans counter attacked when we joined the Citadel."

Tarrek looked at the younger Turian and replied.

"Nice to know that no one forgot about what happened during the Rebellions, I thought that after everything that happened since then, most people would have not thought about remembering those events. Anyway, thanks for sobering me up somewhat, I guess I should get ready to be chewed out for being drunk like this."

John recognized the look and spoke.

"You have PTSD don't you?"

Tarrek looked at the green and black armored human with the golden visor and replied.

"You could say that, my unit got ambushed and we were forced to fight an entire Krogan assault wing. We lost a lot of fellow pilots but we managed to win the battle. But then the reinforcements came and we were forced to retreat or else get slaughtered. We got back safe, but out of a hundred pilots, only seven of us made it back alive. I had to send a lot of condolence letters…one was to the wife of my own brother who died saving my ass in front of me. I watched a lot of good men of mine die that day, and afterwards was no better either. I didn't resign, as I still felt I had a duty to do…but you can guess the stress and memories don't help, and the age as well as the injuries doesn't help me either."

The Spartans could see that and they could understand to some degree what the Turian was feeling, both of them had seen a lot of death and loss in their long careers and recognized a traumatized soldier when they saw one. John then spoke to the Turian, curious about his talents and also wanted to see if this one had skills left in him.

"How old are you?"

Tarrek sighed a bit and replied.

"At least by human standard, at least a hundred and one years, young I'll bet, but battle has a way of making you older than you are. I served in the Hierarchy's air cavalry wing since I was fresh out of school and that's been a very long time for me. I know I look like an ass being drunk, but I guess I need time to leave and get my priorities straight. Getting myself out of the military might help me clear my head."

Jai then replied.

"You can't mean that, you're unit won many decorations in that battle, if it hadn't been for you and your unit, then several Turian settlements would have been bombed to oblivion before back up arrived."

"Honorable mentions and medals mean nothing to me, I don't need them to validate being good at what I do. But that doesn't change the fact that I still feel the need to clear my head after all I've seen. I saved many lives, but lost all those I called brothers and sisters…no amount of medals or decorations of valor and whatnot can wash that away."

Jorge and John were a bit more curious as the lead Spartan finally spoke to the Turian.

"Do you have your records on you?"

"Why are you asking me for my records?"

Jai was quick to pick up and replied.

"You want to take him as part of your crew for your ship?"

John nodded and replied as he looked at the now sober Turian.

"Yes, that's why we need to look at your records sir. This is a strictly volunteer thing that will be cleared with the Council. We need only those who we feel can be good additions to our group and those who are willing to join us. If you refuse, then we won't hold it against you."

Tarrek looked at the Spartans and wondered just what they were playing at and decided to think over the decision. But he decided to ask a question anyway, he was not sure what to make of this offer. Even if he didn't keep to current events, he heard of these men, these Spartans and what he heard was a bit shocking to him. Hearing that they were humans from another reality naturally was a bit hard to swallow no matter how many times he heard it. But here they were and now they were offering him a position on their ship?

"Not to sound offensive, but why would you want to hire a drunken Turian like me who's trying to get himself kicked out due to PTSD?"

"Because you have skills and talent, and also you can't honor your fellow pilots by leaving the service like that. You've already made the letters and even if there's no doubt in my mind it was not easy, at least you gave their families closure. Losing people close to you is a hard thing, there's no denying that, we know how it feels, more than others can admit. But leaving the service due to drunken behavior is an insult to their losses."

Tarrek looked at the Spartans and saw that they had some points on his actions, he had thought getting drunk to the point that he was no longer a good pilot was a way to leave. But he knew that they were right. This was dishonorable and foolish in every sense, he was not honoring his friends' deaths by turning into a drunk and he was never going to be able to face his sister in law and his nephews acting like this.

"All right, here's my military service record, I just hope that I didn't waste your time."

The Spartans and Cortana looked at the files and they saw fairly good ones as well, he was a very capable pilot and had good recommendations from his superiors, though he had requested to remain as the leader of his unit right to that hellish battle in the Krogan Rebellions. So far, the Spartans could see that the Turian before them would make a good addition to their crew. Once they were done, John offered his hand and helped Tarrek off the bed to his feet.

"Welcome to the team Tarrek Rayne."

Tarrek shook his hand and replied.

"If the Council does go ahead with this, I'll get my things together and join you, I just hope that you have something that can work with me being a Turian."

Cortana chimed in to John and replied.

"I can make a number of plans to alter some of our gear for our new crew in no time."

"Good, how is the Dawn?"

"Sitting pretty and waiting for you guys, have some new supplies coming in though considering the new changes to the crew roster if the Council agrees with it I'll start having supplies for Turians brought in as well."

"Nice to know, see you later Cortana."

John then spoke to Tarrek and assured him that they would have something for him to use. They bid Dr. Chloe farewell and it was there that she said that if they were looking for volunteers, she had an idea for a human doctor by the name Dennis Franklin who was operating at the colony of Nova Terra, one of the most successful colonies of the Alliance apart from Eden Prime itself. She mentioned that he was the same as she was when it came to having parents as his were Alliance personnel, his father being an Engineer and his mother a Doctor.

John decided to keep that name in mind and decided to make a trip to Nova Terra when the time came for them to be free. Cortana then informed him that the loading of new supplies for them to operate at a much longer time frame until they would make a return trip to Reach.

It was afterwards that they headed to the Presidium since John was sure that sooner or later, they were going to be called in by the Council. And sure enough, the group was soon contacted by Selena that the Council along with the Alliance requested a meeting with him and Jorge about what the two sides had learned from their representatives about the Dawn's performance in battle.

This was going to be a very long discussion with both the Council and the Alliance over the matter of the Dawn and what else they might be planning, that much John could sense as he and his new group was now heading for the Council Tower.

…

It had been one of the longest discussions in the mind of John, but it had been a critical matter that was not the kind one left to simmer for too long lest it came back to haunt them. The Council was naturally surprised to find the two Turians and the files that the Hierarchy on Jai and Tarrek proved that they were legitimate former members of the Turian Hierarchy and as such were very much viable members to add to his roster. The Asari Councilor agreed with the changes as she was able to see that both Turians had good records despite the tragedies that shaped them respectively.

The Salarian Councilor had suggested that if that being the case, he would also allow members of his race, if they passed the approval of the Spartans would be allowed to work with them as well. So far, the discussions proved that there was some cooperation, though so far it was only limited to the fact that the Alliance and the Council wanted to keep an eye on both the Spartans and make sure that things were kept under a close reign.

Most soldiers would not have liked the idea of having watchdogs on their case, but both John and Jorge were used to it. And they knew that it was better than having people constantly looking at them as if they were suddenly going to go rogue on them.

By the end of the discussion, the Council had learned enough to know that the Dawn was only using a portion of it's overall weapon capabilities and had more to use when the time came. The same went for the Alliance as well, and it was obvious that the Dawn was going to be a very dangerous foe to face if the Spartans and their A.I companion had to use it in battle. And as such, the two sides were more than willing to agree to the idea of having more of their respective people with the Spartans to make sure that things were watched when it concerned the two men, their A.I and the technology that they possessed in hand for their operations.

They also took into account the information regarding the MAC Guns and while they admitted that the weapons were slower and not as quick loading as the Mass Accelerators that were used, the MACs had far greater destructive power and the fact that they could fire at a remarkably sustained rate without creating massive heat radiation as well as causing massive damage to the Dawn made these weapons deadly in their own right.

Even more so when they learned that the weapons were able to operate completely without the influence with E-zero. This meant that it would be a very useful alternative should a ship not be able to have enough E-zero to act as the main fuel for the weapon system. But so far they had no plans as of yet to make such changes and the Spartans were not that keen yet on showing the full idea of how to create working MAC Guns for either the Alliance or the Council itself.

Once that was over and settled, the Spartans decided to allow their new Turian crew members to take some time to get any affairs in order and afterwards, they would ship out and do some open field work. This would also allow John, Jorge, and Cortana to observe and determine the level of skills that the Turians had and where they would be best suited in their crew. Once they were done, they were going to see if they could find some brand new members for their crew to further even out the numbers.

…

On Terra Nova…

As the Dawn landed near the star port of Scott, the capital city of Terra Nova, the Spartans were already out and decided to check out this colony to see what they could on this world. They knew that this world had tremendous amounts of platinum which was a very useful material for many projects and even in their reality, platinum was very useful in a number of their ships and technology.

And considering that platinum was used in a variety of ships that were under private ownership by humans and others, it was understandable that Terra Nova was a critical colony that powered the Alliance. For the Spartans, this was more than enough to balance over the fact that the planet itself was not very habitable and only had viable living areas in the polar regions. This would be a good place to gather some other materials that would supplement the stores that they had back on Reach itself.

And this would be a good chance to get the new addition to their crew, and that would be the doctor that Dr. Chloe Michel had mentioned to them as a suggestion. Normally the Spartans would not like the idea of taking a person with no files on them, but they didn't have time to be rather picky. Though they did manage to meet up with Dr. Michel to get a more thorough idea on who this man was.

Apparently the man was a well known but very private doctor with no criminal record thus far with the Alliance or the Citadel. He was also very much a bit of a recluse but he did have good reason, having lost his wife, son and daughter due to some of the dangers in frontier life. But despite these things, he had a good reputation and was fairly well thought of in his location of Terra Nova. But the Spartans kept in mind that with any prospective colony, there was bound to be trouble and a prosperous colony like Terra Nova was bound to get some possible enemies as there would be groups that would try to use the planet as a base of operations.

As they arrived there at the said location, the two noted that the place looked to be a bit run down and wondered why that was the case. They knocked on the door and was soon greeted by the young man himself. Dr. Franklin seemed to be in a bit of a pinch and it was obvious that he was not expecting visitors at this time of the day and he spoke that very same concern.

"Who are you two?"

John spoke first.

"Are you Doctor Dennis Franklin?"

The man glared a bit even though he was still very wary of the fact that these new fellows were massive and carried some seriously nasty looking fire power.

"Yeah, don't tell me Trasker and his goon squad sent you to rough me up again? I already paid my bills for the last time he and his gang roughed me up and ruined my working space."

Jorge then replied as he removed his helmet.

"It's all right sir, we're not here to harm you in any fashion."

Dennis looked the man over, even though the one in green and black armor along with the golden visor was tall, the other one was a veritable behemoth. However, despite the battle scarred face, he could see that his man was being serious about not harming him. He sighed and decided to go ahead and let the guys in.

As soon as they were in the building, they saw the tell tale signs of battle, it was not something that was new to the Spartans, battles in hospitals had happened before. But this was not the work of any alien from the Citadel as there were not that many aliens calling this place home, so this had to be a local problem. And sure enough after some prodding and diplomacy, they learned just what was going on.

Apparently Trasker was the son of a strong politician who also happened to have a good deal of corruption on his backside but had managed to avoid being arrested due to having some support from some hackers who falsified his records. Trasker was the worst of the lot as he was not above extorting money and bullying people to get what he wanted. The Spartans learned that Trasker's own friends had falsified the public records to show that he was not responsible for the deaths of Franklin's wife and children due to him actually taking drugs and driving a car that hit the car Franklin's family was in.

Franklin had complained and filed a lawsuit for the act, but with Trasker and his father falsifying the records and threatening to take away his license and make him black listed to all medical professionals. Franklin would have called the bluff as he would not stand for it, but he had no other place to go, his family were from Terra Nova and they had left all their lives here and losing the clinic he had worked his life off would shatter the man. But with his reluctant surrender came the extortion, the attacks, and the worst was that every time he had a patient, Trasker would show up after treatment to take the credits he had and then beat him up as well. And to add even more humiliation was the fact that if Trasker got injuried in any of his own actions, he was the one who was going to patch up the man.

This did not sit well with either John or Jorge, extorting money from a medical professional was bad enough, but being responsible for killing the man's entire family, beating him up and the forcing him to heal the same man who took his money and killed his family was even worse. They decided to explain how they knew him and for a moment, Franklin seemed to show some happiness in hearing about his old friend but then wondered why would she send them to him. That was when John offered the idea of working for his crew.

"You want me to work with your crew?"

"Pretty much, but considering all that we've learned, we may decide to find another person, but we can help you deal with Trasker and his gang as well as his father and all of their cronies, to give you some peace."

Franklin looked at the man and while he could not see John's face, he felt that the man was telling the truth. He looked at the clinic and while he had fond memories of the place when his family had been alive, it had been tainted by Trasker and his men too much, he would have lived his life here happily, but now he wanted to leave it. It was too painful, but not before he made sure that all the people who had been hurt by Trasker and his father were made to pay.

"No…I'll join you, there's not much left for me here in Terra Nova, all my memories with my family were good, but that bastard and his father have tainted this place for me. Besides, I want to make a difference in the galaxy and you all seem like the right kind of people to do it."

John nodded and this time he took off his own helmet and revealed himself to Franklin as he shook the man's hand.

"Welcome then to the Dawn Dr. Franklin."

…

In the city of Nos Astra on lIlium…

Jorge gave a slight whistle at the place while looking around and replied to the sight before him.

"Have to admit, this place isn't all bad."

Cortana then replied to that with a smile.

"That's true enough, but it's better to remember that this place is similar to the location in the Terminus Systems known as Omega and also happens to be near the same system. From what I have gathered from the Codex and whatever extranet sources I could find after patching in back at the Citadel, this place might be nice but it's got some dangers."

"Such as?"

"One of them being that they happen to have some loose trading laws to compete with Omega so just about everything that is illegal in the Citadel is allowed here to compete with that place. And this includes being indentured servants which we all know is a flowery way of saying you're a slave. The next is to watch out for anything that you have to sign over, one wrong move and you could be an indentured servant before you can even complain. Next, there are a number of gangs here as well, Eclipse being one of the more dominant forces here. They have members of all races with the exceptions of Krogan and Quarians as far as I can figure and they focus well on using Biotics and Engineering skills."

"Keeping out of their radar will be a good idea all around so let's try not to get into a fire fight unless they start it first. There's not much else, but be wary of anything that might pose a danger to all of us. But we might be able to find some new crew members here that can fill in the gaps. Let's just hope that the recruits are not the kind that have criminal records. Those are the kind we don't need."

Cortana then replied seriously.

"And there is no way that are we bringing in any indentured servants no matter how good they happen to be in whatever field we might need."

Jorge and John nodded as they moved out while they were flanked by Jai, Christie, Darrel, Maxwell, and Selena as Tarrek busied himself with the operation of the Albatross that he was soon going to be flying. The Turian pilot had to admit for a butt ugly bird, the massive drop-ship could fly and while he would have preferred a fighter to a drop-ship, it had been a while since he was going to get himself into the cockpit of one.

Dr. Franklin was busy in the Medical Bay of the Dawn researching what he could on the new technology he would be able to use in combination with his already existing knowledge on human and alien biology. After they had helped overcome the thugs sent by Trasker and his father, the Spartans gathered all evidence that they needed and with Cortana's help in decrypting all of the dirty little secrets the family had, had the man exposed and two days later, Trasker and his father were arrested along with those who supported them. Franklin was good on his promise as he treated all of those had been recently harmed by the man and his followers.

Once he was finished, he closed down his clinic but not before finally cleaning it up. The government of Terra Nova gave him a supply of credits as a form of reparation for all he had endured and stated that should he decide to return, he would be given a fully repaired clinic and be offered full protection.

It was something Franklin considered and kept in mind and that was why he was here now. As for Jai and Tarrek, they had begun to adjust though there had been some tension due to Christie taking issue to the presence of Turians on the Dawn. The good news was that there were no instances that they were fighting one another as of yet, and it seemed that Jai and Tarrek were able to get along well enough. As far, John had allowed Tarrek to work with the other machines such as the Pelicans, the Sabre, the Longswords, and the Albatross, he looked at the machines with some level of shock and worry, no doubt not used to seeing such ships, and he took to the Frames a lot less, stating that even the craziest Turian pilot he knew wouldn't even dream of fighting in such a thing. These same sentiments was echoed by Jai as he also looked at the machines as well and he did so in a very careful manner.

As the group moved about, John already had paid the docking fee and had given the group something of a shopping list. This included anything that they could use to fund themselves for a protracted operation out in s[ace before they would soon make their way back to Reach. This was going to be a long mission so best to stock up and with the Huragok and the Sentinels keeping CASTLE Base fully repaired and operational, it at least was a good thing.

Though Cortana had gathered enough supplies to feed the crew, including the Turians, it was still going to be a while before John could make a full estimation of whether he should trust the new crew with the location of Reach. Along the way, he would also have to plan on how to set up bases or outposts in other locations. It was a tad ambitious, even for him, but better to have a weapon in hand and not need it than to need it and not have it.

But he would need to take it slow, there was nothing that demanded serious attention from him at the moment so he was good, along with him was Selena, Jorge, and of course Cortana while Christie, Darrel, and Jai were on their own duties for shopping namely for spare Turian made equipment as well some defensive gear for the doctor on the off chance he got himself in a tight spot. They were all able to carry their weapons as such so they had little worry about being caught without weapons.

John carried a pair of Covenant Plasma Rifles on his hips as well as MA7A Laser ICWS Assault Rifle while Jorge decided to carry the M248 Gauss SAW GPMG into battle while Selena was able to carry her own weapons as well due to being a Spectre.

…

Looking at the place carefully, the Spartans along with Selena and Cortana were getting as much as they could, the Spartans and the A.I had to admit that for a free trade city, Nos Astra was pretty attractive. It was definitely a worthwhile city to look at despite the obvious dangers and the not so obvious ones as well. The Spectre served as their guide as she had been here before. The Master Chief knew the city, but only at first glance as he had not toured the city directly the last time he was here.

They moved through the area and it was clear that the most dominant race here was the Asari and since they had colonized this world in particular, this would make some sense. The Spectre explained some of the things in the city for her companions while Cortana recorded everything she listened to as there was only so much that the extranet could give, and the fact that the lag time for accessing it was something that she was not going to even deal with.

The fact that the comm.-buoys that allowed for such things that were of great importance such as communications and access to the extranet had some serious lag issues was not lost to Cortana and the Spartans. This was something that could easily cripple the factions in the galaxy they were in since cutting that off, while impossible due to the sensitive nature of the devices and as such were well protected, was quite possible and would cut systems off.

Cortana had also been working on the theory that had something to do with the technology she learned had been left behind by the Protheans before. Something about the technology had been bothering her for some time and the many flaws that both she and the Spartans had seen in their functions and uses. This had been occupying her time and with her new abilities, Cortana had a feeling that she was going to make use of it in the most unexpected fashion.

The many Asari here in their colony would have really been quite a sight back in the UNSC, and there was absolutely no doubt in the minds of the Spartans and their A.I companion that if the Asari had existed in their reality and if they sided with the UNSC, it would have really been quite a change. As they moved about it was not long before the group stumbled into something that surprised them somewhat when they went to another building complex and spotted a situation brewing in an alleyway.

Before them were a pair of Asari, one was wearing combat armor and as such was an Asari commando, and the other speared to be wearing something that would normally be seen on engineering staff. The two were not fighting each other, but in reality were fighting with another band of Asari, eight of them, and they happened to be Eclipse mercenaries. And the look of things for the two were not good, the Asari was busy trying to use her Biotics while the other Asari Commando was busy firing right back while the Eclipse were also attacking them. John had no idea what was going on but his combat reflexes came into play instantly and the same could be said for Jorge.

Cortana quickly locked in the scanners and to her surprise, the Asari was very much someone they knew as she spoke to John.

"John! Remember that Asari Commando we rescued months before? It's her!"

John saw the image and quickly saw that Cortana was right, it was Shanni and it seemed that she was now under attack by the Eclipse Mercenaries. He had no idea what was going on and now was not the time to deal with thoughts and focused on aiding the first Asari he had met. He took out his Plasma Rifles and quickly signaled Jorge who wasted no time and followed the lead of his commanding officer as he removed the massive Gauss Machine Gun from his back and the two moved forward, Selena had no idea what was going on but the second the Spartans readied their weapons, she wagered a guess that this was going to be ugly.

She took out her Assault Rifle and moved in to join the Spartans in the attack, Cortana then got into action and used the COM system in John's MJOLNIR Mark X to hack into the communications systems of the Eclipse Mercenaries, she had to listen to the various communication signals coming through, locate and triangulate the ones that were coming from the location they were going to. The second the A.I found them, she smiled and spoke to John to inform him of her actions.

"The mercenaries' communication systems have been taken out of the grid John, if they plan on calling for help, they are not going to get it."

"Good."

…

Shanni gritted her teeth as she was forced to take cover from another barrage of rounds fired at her by the Eclipse mercenaries. She hoped to get her adopted sister Naisha from Eclipse before the mercenaries got their hands on her. She was not related to her by blood, but after growing up together, she treated the younger Asari as a sister. When she found out that the Eclipse wanted to get their hands on Naisha to use her engineering and Biotic talents, she sprang into action and convinced her not to join them, but it was not long before Eclipse came after them. And now they were in a serious fire fight with the ones after her adopted sister.

She managed to peak and saw that the six Asari were not giving up and it was at this exact point that they were closing in and her adopted sister's Barrier finally failed. They were still in cover, but it was bad as they were soon going to be surrounded. She turned to see her adopted sister being very much drained and trying to recover.

"Naisha!"

The younger Asari looked at her and replied in an undeniably tired tone.

"I am so…drained."

Shanni was not going to enjoy this as she tried to help her friend as the Eclipse mercenaries came in. However the Asari was surprised when the first pair that came at them were suddenly hit by a barrage of bullets that were undeniably larger than regular rounds. They were quickly cut down while another was suddenly forced back as a sniper round nearly took her head off. But she was not going to recover as a pair of plasma bolts came out of nowhere and cut through her body armor as well as covering in her face, burning her so badly that she died instantly.

Shanni recognized that shot and turned to see none other than the Master Chief himself, she had no idea who the massive one was but despite the armor differences, she knew he was a Spartan. She had no idea what they were doing here, but seeing they were with a Spectre and were no doubt saving their lives, she felt her heart become a lot lighter.

Naisha turned and saw the two armored behemoths and she was stunned and she spoke to her adopted sister.

"By the Goddess! Who are they?"

"The cavalry."

The Eclipse mercenaries turned to see the Spartans coming at them and the flying Gauss rounds, sniper rounds and the plasma rounds were enough to stop them cold. The leader tried to call for backup, but to her horror that her communications were now gone and there was no way to contact for help. But as she looked from her cover, she saw the Spartan armed with the massive weapon cut down two of her followers and before she could aim and fire, she was greeted by a half dozen plasma bolts from the other Spartan who then kicked her hard and sent her flying back with her armor melted and her now dead as the kick from the Spartan crushed her ribcage and killed her.

…

Later…

After the mess was cleaned up, John and Jorge had tossed the bodies of the slain Asari mercenaries into a nearby alley but not before taking their weapons, grenades, and other devices that could be of use. With that over, they listened to Shanni who introduced her adopted sister and what happened, and it was here that John decided to ask what Naisha's skills where that would make the Eclipse take an interest in her. Once he was told what she was able to do, John decided to help by offering her a place in the Dawn, this caught the two by surprise as well as Selena and Jorge, though the larger Spartan understood what was the reason of John's decision.

Shanni was surprised but being a veteran Asari Commando, she knew that this was a good offer and she was more than willing to join, besides it would be a good chance to pay the Spartan back for rescuing her and the others months ago. But she knew that while she was all right with the whole thing, she could guess that her adopted sister would be taking this matter a lot differently.

Shanni looked at her adopted sister Naisha to see what she would say, the young Maiden Asari engineer had never met the Spartans before and she was terrified of the sight of the armored men even if they had come to save them from the Eclipse. Naisha turned and looked at as she spoke in a very worried tone.

"I don't know…I mean, I am impressed with the technology…and you did save our lives…but are you sure that having me onboard is a good idea?"

John replied to that and he made sure to keep himself from sounding too serious. As much as he had the desire to be a professional military man, he could tell that the Asari was technically an adolescent so being nice was a better idea.

"It's entirely your choice if you wish to come along, normally I would not take in someone as young as you are. But I don't think that staying here is a wise idea, there is no doubt that Eclipse will eventually find out about your escape from their group and they will come after you. And while I have a feeling that Shanni can protect you, there is no telling what else can happen in the long run. We can protect you and I doubt that even Eclipse will be willing to attack anyone they know next to nothing about."

Naisha was silent at this as she considered just what the Spartan said and she looked once more at her much older adopted sister. Shanni then spoke to her friend as she knew that Naisha was quite capable on her own but had marginal combat training and as such, was not going to be able to handle fighting in a more serious setting. And she knew that the Eclipse group will not give up in tracking down Naisha and with Naisha having been an only child growing up after the deaths of her parents and being adopted by her own mother, she was going to need all the help that she could get.

"I agree with them, and besides, I owe the Spartan my life already so this could be the best chance I have to repay him. Besides, he is a good man and you can trust him."

Naisha looked at her adopted sister and then to the Spartan and after a moment or two, gave her reply.

"All right, I'll join your crew."

John nodded at that and it seemed that despite this being not in his plans, he now had two new people to add to his roster of crew members. And now he will have to make sure that not only would they fit in with one another, but also contribute to the well being of the ship and the machines onboard and even in battle as well.

The whole situation had turned into one heck of a recruitment drive for the Spartan, but at least this would help him out in the long run. Or at least he hoped that it would help him and the others in the long run.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Now we have some new crew members, two Turians, one is a former member of the Turian Hierarchy's Cabal units, and the other is a former fighter pilot. The next pair from Illium happen to be naturally a pair of Asari, one being an engineer who is like a Sentinel Class who also happens to b the adopted sister of the Asari Commando who we now recognize as Shanni, and along the way, another human join the ranks and a doctor no less.

This should fill in some gaps for the ship for the time being and I will be focusing on another part that deals with the Spartans recruiting others into the Dawn and soon placing them into their crew. This will mean that for a while, the dawn will not go back to Reach as the Spartans will see this new group of their in action and they will all see the Spartans fight as well. You can bet that the next part of recruitment drive should be interesting enough.

Now I don't plan on filling up the ship right off the bat, just only a handful of new members at the moment to fill in the gaps. These new crew members will soon be cleared with the Council with the exception of Jai and Tarrek who have already been cleared. They will soon be allowed to go to Reach but not before they will be tested by John, Jorge, and Cortana to see if their skills will be good enough to have them in the group.

We will also now show in the next chapter the introduction of the new weapons and armor or what I will call the UNSC Hardsuits. This will also be where we can see how the Spartans will handle working with a more diverse team of humans and aliens, with them in the command seat.

Before anyone asks if I will an other UNSC characters, then my answer is that you will have to wait. I already accelerated my plans and that cost me a lot of them to include Jorge in this story, and if you have not read a previous note I made, I have no plans to repeat the process another time.

I will add the new characters on my own time and on my own terms, and that will be the end of it, and as to who those characters will be, that is also going to be entirely up to me so just be patient and wait.

Reviews are acceptable and so are constructive critiques, flames will be kicked out.

I will be leaving for my Christmas break soon so I will be gone soon so don't be surprised that I will not be around before the end of next week okay?

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year in advance!

Bye!


	9. Rescue and Negotiations

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own either games that are mentioned here, but I have played them. So let's leave it at that.

Chapter 8

Rescue and Negotiations…

( ): Thoughts

…

On Reach…

John and Jorge were currently looking at the valley beyond CASTLE Base as both Spartans were taking in the world before them. The images of the lush fields and the greenery, the weather, the lights…all of those images and feelings reminded the two Spartans of home. But it was still not their world so they knew that what they were feeling was different. They looked at the sun and Jorge replied as he looked at a nearby series of hills off the distance. They could not see THAT far, but Jorge knew those hills by heart and memory.

"You remember that place Squad leader?"

"Yeah...that used to be the boundaries to New Alexandria."

Jorge nodded at that.

"I used to go there as a kid, loved the place."

John nodded but the two of them decided to head back to the base as they needed with what Cortana had been devising in her free time as well as improving some of the technology that she had been able to get their hands on. The A.I was deeply interested in the various applications that E-zero had that no doubt would have never considered by the current races that inhabited the reality they were in, and already she had been working on some new designs and concepts. These had been kept something of a secret even from the Alliance and Citadel representatives that were there as Cortana decided that now was not the right time for such revelations to be done. Besides some of the concepts were still in the testing phase and would be too dangerous to be attempted by them unless they had the basic principles down right. As they went back into their Warthog, the two drove back into the base and once they were inside, and parked their ride, the two of them headed to the armory as Cortana was waiting for them.

Once they arrived, the A.I appeared from a nearby holo-table and smiled at them.

"Nice to see you two make it in here."

Jorge smiled at that and John nodded as he spoke.

"What's up Cortana?"

The A.I smiled and revealed her latest creation and it was a weapon that resembled the Alliance's basic Hahne-Kedar Lancer Assault Rifle but with a number of alterations and John could easily notice some Forerunner and Covenant designs there in the weapon itself. The two Spartans also noted something that appeared to be some sort of grenade launcher type weapon attachment built into the weapon itself. Jorge then spoke to the A.I

"Care to explain this new weapon?"

"I called it the Arballest, I managed to find out that E-zero's ability to manipulate gravity fields can be fine tuned to actually condense and guide plasma in the very same fashion, though as you can guess, it's a more compact form due to the collapsing ability of the Lancer testbed. It took some time to figure out how to manipulate the mass effect fields but with some help from the Sentinels and the data I got from all the technology, it can be done. The Arballest can fire smaller bursts of plasma and at a faster rate which can be the same as the MA7A we have here in the armory, but since it's collapsible, it's a bit easier to carry and a bit less obvious since it resembles the standard Alliance Assault Rifle. The launcher is a special variant I made from the Plasma Repeater that the Covenant used on Reach, but instead of plasma, this gathers heat generated by the weapon, using special mass effect fields to focus and contain the said heat and fire it out like a plasma bolt, though much larger and packing a higher level of explosive force. It works more as a napalm grenade and is more than enough to make people duck. But it does have a few bugs so I need to test it out."

John took off his helmet and so did Jorge as Jorge replied.

"What sort of bugs?"

"Most if not all weapons here have overheating issues and this one is no different only this makes a bit more heat which is the same as the Brute's version of the Plasma Rifle, I am still trying to figure out how to counter that but so far it's been a bit of trial and error, though that is how humanity got to where it was after all. Anyway, I recently added the same coolant we use in the Dawn to keep the weapon from exploding in our hands but the only way to test it is the traditional way."

Both Jorge and John looked at one another and John sighed a bit and placed back on his helmet and replied.

"I'll handle it."

Jorge was not liking that and made that obvious with the question that comes out of his mouth.

"You sure about that Squad Leader?"

John nodded and took the weapon which was still in the collapsed form and once it extended, he aimed at the nearby target that came up for him to shoot. The Spartan fired out a stream of plasma bolts, the end result was that the bolts were smaller than the ones unleashed Plasma weapons of the Covenant and the new Plasma Assault Rifle he had on his arsenal. But as Cortana predicted, they were smaller and faster in velocity and could be unleashed en mass. Cortana then placed a Kinetic Barrier emitter to shield the target that now sported a large number of scorch marks, but the barrier proves no defense to the plasma bolts. John's connection to to the Arballest told him that heat build up was now being directed into the special attachment and ready to fire, he located the command button and pressed it to see just what the result was. The result was obvious as a massive super heated beam of white energy came out can instantly turned the target into a pile of goo and the Kinetic Barrier could do nothing to stop the beam.

Unfortunately the weapon system data coming from the Arballest and into his HUDs told him that the weapon was suffering a system shut down and he managed to place it away as it folded back up into it's collapsible mode and seemed to be locked in. John picked it up and since it did not explode scanned it and found that the weapon's cooling system had been nearly burned out and caused a system lock down. He placed it to Cortana's inspection and the A.I sighed a bit as she replied.

"Well, it was a work in progress, maybe changing the coolant mix and improving the temperature controls could do the trick to prevent lock down."

"But can it open up?"

The A.I scanned it and so did a nearby Sentinel, it took a few minutes, but then the weapon opened up again and Cortana smiled a bit more.

"Yeah, but it's going to be out for a while, still not too bad for a first time run, and if it can't be repaired, then at least the data we got can help me perfect it."

They nodded and Cortana decided to see what else they could be able to test for the time being in the Armory, namely in terms of the other weapons that they could develop that would be able to take advantage of E-zero and the current weapons technology in present. Cortana also managed to take some data from the Citadel from a previous visit on the weapons used by Cerberus. These new technologies were certainly interesting but would need to be improved in the mind of the A.I since she felt that they could do better.

The next weapon was a Sniper Rifle that resembled the Harpoon Line of Sniper Rifles, but instead of Plasma this time around, Cortana had designed this to use Pulse Lasers, the weapon could collapse but was still bigger than the basic sniper rifle design to accommodate the increased chambers for the cooling systems and the fusion power pack. This version still used Mass effect fields, but instead, the e-zero in it was used to condense radiation and light particles to create a more intense beam of energy. The trade off was that it did not have the destructive potential of the Spartan Laser or the other Directed Energy Weapons in the arsenal. It also had overheating issues but less than the Arballest as this weapon Cortana called Sarissa was more than able to match the performance of the Assault Rifle variant. Though it was naturally more of a sniper rifle and as such could fire bolt after bolt.

Once that was done and the weapons placed aside for the time being, he and Jorge got the chance to look at what Cortana had been doing with their vehicles. There was no doubt in the Spartans' minds that sooner or later, they were going to have to take their vehicles out for a combat situation and they had to be tested soon to deal with the various environmental conditions that they were no doubt soon going to be dealing with. That was why Cortana decided to begin designing some new vehicles as well as improving the ones that they currently had with them. This way, they had a number of combat options that could be called in if they needed heavier armor, mobility, and weaponry plus anything that they could not afford to carry.

There was a new variant of the Warthog that was designed to still retain the look of the vehicle but had been elongated somewhat as well as expanded to allow the inclusion to some new features to deal with key operations. Since the Warthog was designed for all terrain operations and was constructed well, it was not necessary for it to be environmentally sealed. Though Cortana made sure to have the alloy plating re-designed and hardened. The elongation was not too much and was needed to install emitters that were built to emit the energy shield that Cortana had developed from the Forerunner, Covenant and UNSC data that they had as well as the Bubble Shields. Like the Bubble shield, this energy shield was different from the Kinetic Barriers as it could counter energy weapons and it was also reinforced by upgrades in durability and shield strength. This shield system was also able to recharge if given time and not being hit by weapons fire. Cortana however added a layer of Mass Effect fields as a way to counter Biotic attacks that the Bubble Shield might not be able to counter due to the unknown effects of Biotic attacks on the shield. And unlike the Bubble Shield, the new shield system on the Warthog model was designed to be smaller and actually hug the vehicle closely.

These changes naturally required the power systems to be replaced somewhat which was why instead of the original Hydrogen fueled engine, the new Warthog variant now had an engine powered by a pair of UNSC Fusion Cores that was redesigned to be safer and more durable and be housed in a special housing for better protection from damage. This was more than enough to provide power for all the key systems as the basic Hydrogen engine was unable to provide power for the shield system. This was supported by a small E-zero core engine to power the added shield to counter Biotic attacks.

The new Warthog variant's weapons were also different as the ones focused on dealing with light armor, infantry, and aircraft now could be outfitted with a Gauss Turret, Light Laser Turret, Plasma Repeater Cannon, and Pulse Laser turret to boot. This made the Warthog a deadly weapon in battle under the right hands and with the right gunner. The Warthog variant focused for anti-armor roles was also armed with a modified Gauss Cannon, Heavy Laser Turret based from the Spartan Laser itself, and also a specially made rapid firing Fuel Rod Cannon based cannon.

Cortana was also working on a variant for the Grizzly, one of the tank variants developed in the war which used the blueprints of the Scorpion, and was even considered as a replacement model if the UNSC needed more firepower. Developed by a veteran Sergeant named John Forge, the Grizzly had better armor, better weapons, and was a lot tougher than the regular Scorpion, the reason it was not released in larger numbers, was that it was a lot more expensive than the Scorpion and had a slower movement rate than the Scorpion. The plans were thought lost until it was revealed that some of the blueprints had been sent into the database on Reach and had been kept safe until the siege and fall. Cortana saved a copy of it and it had been locked away in the file pertaining to weapons research as UNSC scientists had been working on making the Grizzly more production friendly.

This new variant was now being loaded with a new cannon based on Gauss technology and was named the M90G Gauss Cannon and carried two of them for increased power and they had been conditioned by Cortana to be able to fire in rapid succession though it did need a rearming and charging period. It was also given the use of a special grenade launcher system that fired rounds that were able to tear apart infantry en mass. It was armed with a special shielding system that was also based on the Bubble Shield design and give it defenses against heavy attacks from anti vehicle weapons as well as explosive rounds of both solid and energy nature. This was also supported by a stronger Titanium A alloy armor skin that was further supported by a new ceramic ablative coating for added defense.

This new variant was still going through trials and was not yet ready to be sent into a live fire situation. So far there were only four of them so John, Jorge, and Cortana had no plans to make more of the tanks. They also planned to made a new set of Scorpion Tanks that were going to be based on some plans of their own and armed with even more technology.

But for today, now was the time for them to leave Reach and get some time to see what was going on in the Galactic Scene and also see if there were some concerns that they should be taking a more open interest in. The two Spartans moved out to see just what the others were doing in the base, Cortana reported to them that Selena was currently taking the time to meditate in her room, Christie was working out in the gym, Darell was at the shooting range, Jai was currently training with his Biotics outside of the base, Tarrek was currently running on some simulation runs in a place dedicated on helping keep pilots on their best, Franklin was reading on the files pertaining to the station that he was working with on the ship itself. The two then gave the call to them that they were going to go back into a galactic scene and see just what was going on in the galaxy.

The group agreed the call and soon all of them were in the docks where the Dawn was currently in, John and Jorge also decided to pack up some of the spare prototypes of the Warthog into the ship since if they found a chance to test the models, then they would take that chance to test them out. Once the prototypes were in the ship, along with the needed supplies they boarded as John had no doubt that they were going to be out of Reach for a very long time. As the Dawn was released and now gaining altitude over Reach, Cortana activated the lockdown command on the base to secure it as well as activate the security systems as well. The ship then was clear to initiate the Slipspace Jump and soon they were off with John aiming for a Mass Relay to access the comm. buoys in the area to access the network.

…

In the Dawn...

Cortana was currently checking on the incoming comm traffic from the nearby comm. buoys while the others were getting ready for their own duties, Tarrek was still looking over the schematics of the Pelican and Albatross Drop-ships and Franklin was learning more of the data that he had on the alien species in the universe while looking at the new technology that was on the Dawn, as even though he was able to understand it, it was still something he wanted to learn to the best detail. Selena was currently reporting to the Council in the comm. room that was conditioned to use the comm buoys of the Mass Relays and no doubt talking about what she had gathered thus far.

As for John and Jorge, they were currently running a few diagnostic checks on their MJOLNIR as standard protocol for them, along with looking at the latest Galactic News reports streaming in. So far it seemed that the galaxy was operating as normal, though rumors of activity in the Terminus Systems was a bit worrying. So far there seemed to be an increase of activity in the area uncontrolled by the Council and pirate groups seemed to be gathering though in very small numbers. Most would ignore that as pirate activity was still considered as an ignorable problem by the majority of the Galactic community unless Council held worlds were attacked, but the Spartans paid a great degree of attention to the reports.

Jorge shook his head and replied.

"I can't figure out just why there's so many pirates out there that haven't been dealt with already, leaving them to randomly attack is going to come back to haunt the Citadel or the Alliance."

"I know Jorge, I am curious about it myself though it would stand to reason that hunting them all down is going to be costly in more ways than one."

"I know Squad Leader, but I doubt those pirate groups are meeting for kicks, something major is going to happen soon, and I don't think that sitting around is going to help anyone, no matter who's side they're on."

John nodded at that as Jorge did have a point and it was here that Christie came in and looked at them, she was still amazed at how massive these guys were, sure they were not too tall, but they were not little either. But she placed that aside as she saw them working on their armor and walked over to the two as she could tell that they were listening to the Galactic News reports.

"Anything new that got your attention?"

Jorge turned and replied.

"Increased pirate activity and more than the usual, I have no doubt they're planning something major soon, you don't get that many people together just to say hello and have tea and biscuits."

Christie nodded at that.

"I know that much, I just hope that when they do make their move, there will be a chance to counter them."

Jorge nodded and then asked a question.

"Any word on the Alliance?"

"Nothing yet, though I have heard that they are halfway done with the new ship known as the Normandy. It's about half finished though it's costing the Alliance a hell of a lot of credits and time. Still, if it will help the Alliance in combating those nuts looking for a fight then I am not going to complain,though I am no fan of some of the Turian inspired designs in it."

Cortana then appeared at a nearby holo-tank and spoke to the Spartans.

"I've gathered all the data I can from the comm. buoys for now, it seems that some new attempts at colonizing planets at the Terminus Systems is happening, and by humanity this time. Looks like they are the independent type and want to be away from the Alliance."

Christie sighed at that and replied.

"I thought as much, those people do have a right to make their own choices, but settling in the Terminus Systems is a disaster waiting to happen."

Jorge and John knew about that situation and knew that the people who were taking the independent route in settling the galaxy had good reasons. The Alliance's tactics for defending colonies were not very helpful and since the two of them and Cortana had reviewed all the data, they had a feeling that unless the Alliance can step up their Naval strength, increase their military forces, and also improve their garrison tactics, something was going to happen that would really be a blow to their credibility. Naturally they knew that doing so was going to get a load of attention from the Citadel and from those with an axe to grind with Humanity, the people in question would start throwing accusations on the Alliance and that would also place Humanity once more as aggressors in the eyes of those in the Galactic community.

Cortana then spoke about that.

"Then we'll just have to make due for the time being."

The group continued with what they were doing as Selena came back and spoke to the Spartans about what the Council had said about the report and then mentioned that she told Jai and Tarrek that it was their turn to offer their reports to the Council. It was going to be a while before anything of importance was going to crop up so for now, they decided to go and locate a planet where they could test some of the equipment they had. They looked at the star charts that they had on hand and located a star system that was mapped but not colonized and activated the Slipspace Drive. Once they were on their way to the portal, the others of the crew looked to see what Slipspace was like. Unlike Mass Relays, Slipspace was a completely different world of possibilities to the people from both the Alliance and the Citadel.

Once they were able to reach their destination and exit the Slipspace portal, Cortana suggested an uninhabited world with several conditions for an all around field test when she picked up something.

"Hold up...I am picking up some sort of signal...it's pretty faint but a very good distance from us and is coming from one of the worlds."

The Spartans thought that over along with Christie and Selena and John then gave his order.

"Let's go check it out. And we'll have to be armed and ready on the off chance that this is a trap, or if we are on a rescue run."

Cortana then replied.

"Got it, I'll keep the Dawn out of sight on the off chance that we encounter the former."

...

Over the planet...

It did not take too long for them to get to the planet in question and once they were there, Cortana's choice to keep the Dawn hidden was the right one. The planet was taking the appearance of what would be best described as a desert world with a few oceans in some areas. Not exactly a safe place by most standards, but the planet's biosphere seemed habitable. But what was of concern was the large colony settlement that was there, and it was unregistered to boot. That meant either this colony was independent or belonged to less than savory characters. And the fact that there were some converted ships acting like they were on patrol meant that they had stumbled on something major.

Which was why they were currently in full combat gear...

John and the others gathered in the Dawn's tactical planning room with the Spartans already armed to the teeth, John carried a MA7A Laser Assault Rifle and two M8 Gauss SMGs while Jorge had on his back the power supply for a Plasma Cannon as he was going to serve as the heavy firepower of the group. The others were armed with their regular weaponry, but this time around, they were not wearing conventional Citadel or Alliance made Armor. They were wearing UNSC made Combat suits and these were already set for the mass production phase but John decided that these would serve as front line tests. Naturally the others were not too comfortable with the idea of wearing new technology but they had to admit that these were comfortable. John had made sure to equip Tarrek with the Pilot uniform even though he was not going with them to the ground just yet and Jai was armed with the full scale combat version and was able to function with his Biotics, much to his surprise.

As they were there, Cortana came in and spoke to them.

"It looks like the signal we picked up was a barely functional rescue beacon on the surface of this world here, and in a pile that I have not yet scanned due to radiation interference though I am betting that it might be the ruins of a ship. I've completed the scan on the settlement/base that the pirates are operating from as well as their little fleet, there seem to be a patrol of ships there, well armed by most Citadel standards and the settlement is also armed with heavy turrets for defense so I doubt that this is your conventional ragtag pirate group down there. There is also the problem of a considerable amount of radiation moving around the planet on regular intervals. These aren't harmful by any standard if the ships are radiation protected, but it renders any attempts at Teleportation to the surface to be risky."

John and Jorge took that in all right and decided not to make an issue on the matter, though they and Cortana were not too happy with the fact as they had planned to try and install some teleportation beacons on the suits to see if it can be viable for teleportation. That kind of test however was for a much later date as they doubted that any of their companions and observers were going to volunteer for that kind of test.

"So what is our best way to go down?"

"Not by Pelican or by Albatross at the moment, they might be armed with shields but it's not the healthiest of ideas since those are weaker than the Dawn's and can be overpowered by heavier weaponry. We need to rapidly deploy there and since there seems to be some craters on the surface consistent with meteor showers, that means that we can use the HEVs. Since meteor showers on the planet seem common enough, the HEVs can get by without too much trouble."

The others who were there had no idea what HEVs were but Selena did, thanks to her melding with John's mind, she gasped as she recalled seeing the HEVs in action as well as the people who were known to use them extensively...the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or known to the regular UNSC personnel by two names, the ODSTs and the Helljumpers. The Asari Spectre had to admit that it was shocking to see humans who were actually willing to go down to the surface of worlds in what she could describe at best as burning coffins. She knew that such tactics were considered by many in the Citadel in the past...even the Turians thought of trying a rapid deployment force that could be sent out to secure the landing zone in advance for the legions they deployed, but that was scrapped. It was deemed too risky, costly, and impractical, not to mention that even the most skilled and experienced Turians thought it was nuts as the humans said it to try such a move.

"You three can't be serious about us using them are you?"

Jorge nodded and replied.

"It's the best option so far, we can't teleport to the ground to set up a landing zone, having you all go by Albatross or Pelican with those ships nearby is asking for a bullet to the head and no one wants that, and having the Dawn land to deploy us is bound to get some attention."

Darrell then asked.

"What are HEVs?"

...

In the Dawn's HEV deployment bay...

Selena groaned a bit, a rare thing for a Spectre to do, while the others from the Council and the Alliance stared in absolute shock at the HEVs that were all lined up and ready for use. John, Jorge, and Cortana had improved the HEVs previously as they were now designed to have stronger shielding from heat and also had improved thrusters for some increased maneuverability. They were also armed with a one use temperature cooling system to keep the occupants alive from the extreme heat as well as have improved computers to make the process a lot safer for the occupants once they were deployed. These pods had been also made to carry enough supplies though since the others were already armed with their own weapons which did not have ammunition requirements, the Spartans removed the spare ammunition though they stored food, medical gear, communications gear, and spare weapons that they purchased from the Citadel due to John and Cortana acquiring enough funds to purchase a number of licenses from several arms manufacturing companies and also buy the weapons in question.

The HEVs naturally were still the disposable type and they could be salvaged once they hit the ground but these improvements would at the very least allow them to be safer than the previous models. That however was not enough to make the others in the group relax for a moment as Selena had told them just what the HEVs were and who were the kinds of people who were known to use those in combat.

"By the Spirits...that is insanity."

Jai could not find the best way to describe the idea of him being in such a device and then riding down to the surface of a planet in what essentially a flying tomb.

Christie had to agree with that idea as she also spoke.

"I can't believe that there were even people who were willing to get into the darn things in the first place."

Cortana then replied.

"You guys don't have to worry, we have improved them so they are a load safer than the previous models, besides, we don't exactly have the luxury of time, I am going to leave a copy of myself to pilot the ship and take out the Fleet overhead while Tarrek will remain here along with Franklin to handle things here. We can deploy you in a viable area at least a few kilometers away from the target location and since it seems there will be some meteors coming in the planet's area in a few minutes, this is the best time."

John then replied.

"Jorge and I will go ahead and then you will follow thirty seconds after us, this is how we work, officers are first on the ground and will coordinate everything once the rest of the team deploys. So get ready and consider this your first time in the HEVs."

Seeing that they had little time to discuss the matter with the Spartans, they decided to just go ahead and do it though they were all very reluctant to do so. Once they were in Cortana had Tarrek go back to the bridge as she and the Turian began to guide the Dawn into the area of the planet's atmosphere with Cortana marking the exact location and counting down to the deployment order. Inside the HEVs the others were worried with the sole exception of the Spartans as they had done this before in their long careers. Though ODSTs were the most common users of HEVs, they and other UNSC Special Forces units were known to use these pods themselves when rapid insertion was needed.

As the Dawn moved closer to the planet, Cortana also tracked the movements of the pirates who were in the area and quickly deduced that they were not aware of them just yet. This was not going to last as far as she knew, but at least she knew that this mission was going to be a load easier for all involved. Once they were in the clear, she began to speak to the people in the HEVs.

"All right people, the Spartans will be deployed first, the rest will follow in thirty seconds, once deployed, the Dawn will engage the pirates to clear space and prepare for exfiltration. Don't expect air or space support so be careful."

John replied.

"We will Cortana, ready to go!"

Jorge nodded as he readied his massive weapon.

"Same here!"

"All right, thirty seconds."

Everyone tensed up while the Spartans merely played it cool.

"Twenty seconds."

The Dawn was now in optimal HEV deployment altitude and soon it was time to go as Cortana looked over the spot that they were soon over."

"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six."

John ran one last quick check on his gear while Jorge did the same, the others were praying to their respective faiths if they had any that they were going to survive this.

"Five...four...three...two...one! Spartans deployed!"

Sure enough the Spartans in their HEVs were shot out from the Dawn at high speed and were soon hitting the atmosphere, the HEVs began to glow red hot as the technology used to shield them from the extreme heat kicked in to keep the Spartans alive. The two felt the pod shake as atmospheric turbulence began to kick in as the temperature scanners of their MJOLNIR kept track of the temperature change.

The Spartans waited thirty seconds and then they heard Cortana speak out.

"HEVs deployed! Good luck people, you are going to need it!"

...

On the ground…

The place seemed calm and simple despite the high winds and the amount of sand flying about, there in the interior of the compound some of the guards turned to see several streaking objects in the sky a fair distance over some hills. They looked at them and shrugged, meteors were reported to be hitting the planet but on the far side and those looked too small to be of some danger. It seemed that it was going to be a calm day and soon they were going to sell their merchandise and newly gained slaves to the Terminus Systems and to anyone with the credits to spare. No one in the Alliance or the Citadel knew what was going on so they had nothing to worry about.

That is until today...

The HEVs screamed through the atmosphere and they were now in a loose formation though not too far from one another as John decided to call it in with the others, he started with Jorge first to see how his fellow Spartan II was handling things. He had not heard from Jorge in a while but he knew that this was only the fifth time Jorge had ridden down in a HEV.

"Jorge, what's your status?"

"Green all the way Squad leader, everything seems to be in order."

"Good."

John then directed his attention to the others and what he heard from them when he asked them how they were doing, was colorful to say the least.

Christie: "Damn it! I feel like I left my guts back in the ship!"

Darrell: "Oh man...I feel like I just left my brain in the Dawn!"

Jai: "By the Spirits...what am I doing?"

Selena: "By the Goddess...I feel like I am going to throw up!"

Shanni: "Join...the club!"

John could not help but shake his head and could not help but find some level of amusement over the whole thing but he did not comment on it as the HEVs were now reaching the target zone. Once they were at the required distance, the HEVs' breaking features kicked in and soon the chutes were unleashed. In that exact moment the Spartans felt the deceleration as the HEVs continued down at a slower pace than before, that was soon followed by the massive sound of their HEVs hitting the ground hard and fast. The two relaxed as the automatic systems kicked in as the doors were blasted away, allowing them to get out and take their weapons.

They looked up and then heard the HEVs roar down and hit the dirt with a bang, the Spartans looked at the HEVs and their scanners told them that the occupants were all right. But they had no doubt that they were going to be really feeling it the very second that they were soon out of the HEVs. They watched as the doors were blasted away and out came the occupants, Christie came out and hit the dirt and was on her hands and knees, Darrell leaned back on his HEV and tried to get his breath back, Jai managed to sit down and coughed while shaking his head, and both Selena and Shanni were helping each other stand.

Christie spoke out.

"Augh...I feel like I just gave birth."

Darrell was next to comment on his first HEV ride.

"Now I know how a ship going through a Mass Relay feels."

Jai was next.

"My spine..."

Selena spoke next.

"Let's not do that again please?"

Shanni nodded and replied.

"I'd rather take my chances in the teleporter or the drop-ships than do this again!"

Jorge sighed a bit and John shrugged, they decided to give their team a few minutes to get their bearings back and thankfully none of them decided to hurl. That would have really been an object lesson in humiliation in their minds. As for them, they were feeling all right and decided to secure the area and hold the fort until the others were ready. As soon as they told the Spartans that they were ready, the Spartans allowed them remove the supplies from their pods while he and Jorge took what supplies their pods had and when they were all fully booked with what they needed, they moved out.

It was going to be a while before they could make it to their target location but after the others got their bodies working better then seemed to be in much better conditions than before. In their minds the others were lucky, usually ODSTs would lose some of their comrades first time in the insertion run, though the two did not make an issue out of it as they moved through terrain before them with the NAV Markers showing the base. Cortana was soon able to contact them or rather her copy was as she spoke to them.

"The Dawn is now getting ready to engage the pirate fleet, it will clear the way once you guys secure the compound, be prepared, scanners indicate a great deal of activity down there, looking like the pirates might be getting ready for a party of some sort. No doubt for getting a big paycheck for whoever employs them."

John then replied.

"They are not going to have long to enjoy it."

"I know, the Dawn is already deploying Sentinels to create distortion fields to cut down any communications from the Fleet or elsewhere, so they will not be aware that their little fleet is about to be in for the fight of their lives."

...

It was after a few more minutes after pushing themselves to reach their target that the team finally arrived to face the compound and here was where John and Jorge used their MJOLNIR's long range scanners and spotted the pirates, this time there were Turians there as well. John pointed them out, Jai then pointed to the armor of the pirates as he himself looked at them with his own Sniper Rifle.

"Those are not standard pirates...they are Blue Suns."

Jorge was surprised by that and saw the emblem and spoke.

"You know them?"

"Yeah, there's a file on them that stated that they were officially registered as a 'Private Security Company', but in reality they are a mercenary outfit. They are rumored to be ruthlessly efficient and are not afraid to use any means needed to accomplish their goals so they are usually hired by paying a very sizable fee. They take in Humans, Turians, and Batarians into their ranks, though the majority of the bunch are Batarians even though one of the founders of the group was against the idea. That one was a human named Zaeed Massani, a former Alliance Marine who left and became a feared and respected mercenary soldier and bounty hunter, he was against the idea of hiring Batarians which was pitched by co-founder Vido Santiago also a mercenary. Vido betrayed Zaeed and shot him in the face...though it's known that Zaeed is still breathing and gunning for his former partner."

The Spartans shook their heads and Selena replied.

"If that is the case, then they must have been hired by someone to do pirate work or they are doing this on their own initiative since they are known to dabble in slave trading, and it'snot unheard of for them to betray their clients if they sense that they can earn more money by breaking their oath, as far as mercenaries and free-lancers go they are not to be trusted no matter what they say. if they can make more money as Jai said, they'd gladly kill anyone to get more money."

Jorge then replied with a slight growl.

"Let's see how they like it when we show up."

...

In the compound...

The three Turians who were on the wall and overseeing the place were grumbling at the fact that they were now at the party, they wished that they were able to get the chance to party. They had scored a good haul and the extra money they would get from their newly acquired 'organic merchandise' would really help. They were also thinking about paying the people a visit and have taste...

Their train of thoughts on the matter were broken however when two of them were suddenly grabbed by glowing hands made from orange energy and the other watched in shock and horror as his companions were suddenly crushed into pulp. The sounds of their armor cracking along with their flesh pulped and their bones crushed were soon drowned out as the Turian turned to suddenly see three massive figures appear from the wall. He barely had time to react as both Spartans smashed their respective left foot into his chest, and the weight of the Spartans even on one foot was more than enough to crush bone, ceramic plate, and flesh.

The Spartans quickly moved and headed right for the gate and the two now had their weapons at the ready, two Blue Suns mercenaries, both humans female spotted the Spartans and tried to fire but their attempts were short lived as John fired two bursts at their faces, the laser bolts easily cooking them dead as they fell. Once they were closer to the gate house, the Spartans quickly leaped down fast and hard, shocking the Blue Suns below them, they turned only to find themselves facing Jorge's Plasma Cannon as the cannon glowed and the Spartan spoke.

"Say hello to my little friend!"

The mercenaries were literally melted in half as the close range storm of plasma bolts easily burned through them, the other mercenaries who were there only had enough to time to gasp as several of them were cut down. This was enough to raise the alarms in the base as John made his way to the gate house and open the gate, once the gate was down the Spartan moved in to support his partner as plasma bolts and laser bolts were flying towards the Blue Suns mercs who were caught with their pants down, unaware of the fact that at the moment their space born buddies were being shot up by the Dawn.

The Spartans were soon joined by the others of their group and they were quick to unleash their own weapons and soon the plasma and laser bolts of the Spartans were joined by the mass accelerator slugs of the team. The battle was quick to turn into a dance of combat as the Blue Suns were facing something that they had not expected or had prepared for, even more so as the Spartans were unleashing plasma and laser bolts at them and causing all sorts of damage on them. The team began to move forward with the Spartans providing the fire support while the others moved in and got into cover when they needed to do so. They were soon followed by the Spartans with John reloading his weapon while Jorge stopped to allow his heavy support weapon to cool down and be ready for firing once more.

However as they moved forward, the group were caught into what was an open courtyard which was being filled by several more bands of Blue Sun mercenaries with John turning and speaking to Selena.

"We'll keep the mercenaries on that side occupied while you clear out the other end."

Selena nodded as she led the others to engage the other Blue Suns while the Spartans turned to face the attacking Blue Suns, the mercenaries thought that even with their unknown weapons, the two were nuts. They were out numbered ten to one and there was no way those two could handle all of them in one run...

If they only knew...if there was one thing the Covenant and the Covenant Loyalists learned about the Spartans the hard way...it was that being outnumbered was not a problem for them. It only presented the Spartans will a lot more targets to take out and many chances to find new ways to turn their foes into statistics.

...

The other group managed to fight off the forces on their side as they continued to advance, those of them who could use Biotics, which was most of them were able to unleash Warp attacks, Pull, Barrier, and a few more to even up the odds with their targets. But that hardly meant that their efforts were not taxing on them. Already Jai was panting and had to revert to using his weapons as his Biotics were getting weaker. Christie used her Assault rifle in place of her shotgun as she too was not able to use her Biotics, Darrel used his Sniper Rifle and so did Shanni. They had taken out a number of the Blue Suns but there seemed to be more of them and they were massing up near the water treatment plant that was their next area.

Selena got to cover as she was wearing her UNSC Armor as well as carrying her Sniper Rifle as the mass accelerator rounds hit the wall she was hiding behind while flying past her. The Asari Spectre looked to see that the others were also taking cover from the withering fire, and she used her Barrier to allow her to move to a better firing position. That allowed her to take down another Batarian sniper that had earlier tried to tag her, with his shot blocked by her Barrier.

She turned and spoke through the communicators.

"They have managed to mass up at the nearby water treatment plant! They have us pinned down over here!"

She heard Jorge's voice call out at that moment.

"Not for long they won't."

The roar of Jorge's Heavy Plasma Cannon was soon filling the area as rapid moving bolts of super heated blue-white plasma streamed out like a rain for hell itself. The Blue Suns mercenaries had little time to react as the massive streams of plasma bolts tore into them, some were lucky enough to have the common sense to duck while the less intelligent ones were instantly burned alive as the super heated plasma easily overpowered their Kinetic barriers and melted through their ceramic Combat suits' plating like it was nothing more than tissue paper. The screams of pain filled the air as well as the smell of burning ozone as more of the Blue Suns mercs were cut down. Jorge was soon joined by John who unleashed his newly charged MA7A. The two had already mopped up the remains of the Blue Suns they had engaged, leaving behind dead or dying Turian, Batarian, and Human mercs behind them along with the smell of death.

This was the opening that Selena and the others needed as she, Christie, Jai, Shanni, and Darrel moved in while they were soon joined by the Spartans as the fire fight was getting a lot more intense. John spotted a nearby command console from one of the larger buildings and spoke to Cortana as more of the defense towers were firing their Mass Accelerator slugs at them. If they did not take those out soon, they were not going to be able to move in closer and deeper into the compound.

"Cortana, can you hack into the base's networks in that console?"

"Yeah, just get me into it and I will handle the rest of it from there."

John nodded and quickly spoke to Jorge and the others.

"We need to get Cortana into the system so she can take down the defenses and isolate any more reinforcements, I need covering fire to get to the console!"

Selena nodded and so did the others as they all took out their Sniper Rifles.

"We can handle that."

Jorge then replied.

"I've got your back squad leader."

John nodded and that was the signal as the group got up as soon as the turrets deeper in the compound had to stop firing and vent out the heat in their systems. Once they did so, the Spartans quickly moved out from cover and were now moving at high speed with Jorge using his MJOLNIR's shield manipulation abilities to create a mobile defense barrier to counter incoming fire while John fired through the shields to counter the attacks thrown at them. They were supported by the others as well though Christie and Darrell were having some problems with the use of Sniper Rifles unlike Selena who was able to take down a heavy trooper who was trying to aim his rocket launcher at the two.

Jorge quickly got his Plasma Cannon primmed and fired out a massive barrage of plasma bolts right at the enemy, forcing them to take cover, even more so when they watched three of their friends literally cooked alive as the high speed plasma bolts tore through their Kinetic Barriers and melted their armor like it was nothing. The Heavy Weapons expert of Noble Team concentrated the fire in a wave over the aliens, quickly stopping if his weapon needed to cool down and avoid being severely damaged by overheating issues. This allowed the others to cover them as Cortana was now in the system.

It did not take long for the enhanced UNSC Smart A.I to start wrecking havoc on the systems of the base as the turrets began to fire so much without stopping that they destroyed themselves in a spectacular fashion. Alarms were killed all over the base and already several areas were being locked down by her to keep the pirates isolated and make sure that if there were other forces hidden in the complex, they were not going to go anywhere. This was enough for the group to move out and take the fight to the pirates as without their heavy turret support, they were now a lot more vulnerable.

The Spartans moved out as soon as Cortana allowed one of her copies to remain in the system to hack in and cause even more havoc while gathering any data that could be of use to them. This was also where the Spartans displayed their combat skills to their audience who were now recording the whole thing thanks to the recording systems in their omni-tools as par the requests of the Council.

The Master Chief quickly took to running at high speed while firing at a rapid pace, his MA7A unleashing rapid fire laser bolts that easily cut through the shields and armor of their targets. The Spartan then leaped over several crates and spinning in mid flight to shoot three Batarians in rapid succession. As soon as he landed he turned to smash the butt of his weapon into the face of a Batarian and smashing in the skull and turning to kick another in the chest sending his attacker flying. The Spartan then placed the Laser Assault Rifle on his back and picked up two discarded Assault Rifles and carried them in both hands without trouble.

He carried them like they weighed nothing and quickly fired three burst shots to the forces outside while Jorge hefted his Plasma Cannon and fired out more of the rounds until he also picked up a pair of Assault Rifles. They looked smaller than they were in the massive Spartan's hands as the two of them were firing away with terrifying accuracy at their foes. They also moved at a high pace and were cutting down their foes quickly as more pirates fell, showing that they had loaded their weapons with heavy upgrades to improve their firing rate and power and used Proton Ammunition to bypass shields. These rounds however were not too effective to the enhanced shields of the Spartans as the two behemoths crashed into the pirates.

The pirates realized that the real threat were the two massive figures in armor firing away at them and focused their attacks on them, but the speed and protection the Spartans had proved that their attacks were not going to be going anywhere. The pirates only saw flashes of golden light around the figures as the shields shrugged off the damage easily and more of them were dropping like flies.

John and Jorge carried on and quickly got into cover after the weapons overheated, forcing them to discard them as they knew that they had the initiative. They took out their previous weapons as John quickly used his MJOLNIR's Shield Manipulation functions to grab some crates and then toss them at the gathered Blue Sun mercs, forcing them to scatter as they came out and slaughtered the pirates once more. This was enough to send more of corpses to the ground, one armed with a Rocket Launcher tried to fire but Jorge spotted him and instead of reducing the Batarian into a steaming pile of goo with the Plasma Cannon, he instead used his MJOLNIR's Shield Manipulation function to actually surround the Batarian just as he fired the missile.

BOOM!

The Spartan moved the sphere away and the Batarian fell down in a VERY bloody mess. The shield sphere contained the blast as the missile hit the shield and this allowed the shrapnel and energy to be magnified and overpowered the Kinetic Barriers of the mercenary. The explosion and shrapnel did the rest as the Batarian fell into a smoking and unrecognizable pile of meat and torn armor. Jorge held his weapon once more and fired more of the plasma from his weapon but not before speaking to the dead Blue Suns mercenary.

"Never play with explosives Four Eyes."

John was not far behind as he reloaded his MA7A and spotted several more Blue Suns lining up to kill him and Jorge as he decided to use his MJOLNIR Shield Manipulation function and fired out a spear of glowing energy, the spear went between the pirates, seemingly missing them but that was what the mercenaries thought as John then altered the energy controls and the spear of energy unleashed several spears on the side. This quickly impaled the pirates in the chests and sides as their Kinetic Barriers were not able to counter the attacks. John retracted the energy spears as the six pirates fell down to the ground as the Spartan switched to using his M8 SMGs.

It was not long before the mercenaries in the area were now dead or dying in the battle field and the Spartans were the ones who were the only ones standing, and when the others came to the sight, they could not help but comment at the sight of the slaughter committed by the Spartans on the Blue Suns, all of which they had recorded in their own systems.

Selena could not help but gulp at the sight and spoke as the smell of ozone, burning flesh, and melted ceramic was still there.

"By the Goddess..."

Chrisitie spoke as well.

"Holy crap..."

Darrell replied to that.

"I second that..."

Jai then spoke.

"Now this is a mess."

Shanni spoke next.

"I thought I have seen everything...guess I was wrong."

The group recovered well enough and John decided for them to fan out and take out any other pockets of resistance left in the compound, it was not going to be an easy assignment but it was needed either way. The Blue Suns left alive in their part of the compound who tried to resist were taken out of the equation rather quickly and it was not going to be long before the outer area of the compound was secured. Cortana was in the system already and was making sure to guide the team into areas where resistance was thick, and she also turned several Drones that they were in the base to either blow up to deny the Blue Suns any support, or to support the team and then blow up. She also blocked down the alarms to prevent any other mercenaries in any other compound from being alerted to the attack to have the element of surprise.

And it worked to some extent, as the teams moved on until they reached the inner area of the compound and found more resistance but Cortana contained them as well since her copy was deep in the system while she remained in the MJOLNIR as well though the resistance didn't seem to expect them and were caught off guard. The teams fanned out in pairs with Selena and Darrell on group, Christie and Jai on the other while Shanni remained in the area by climbing to a high sniper tower to cover the others. John and Jorge moved into what Cortana showed was a holding compound, no doubt for whatever the Blue Suns had gathered and who they may have kidnapped to be sold for slavery.

...

In the main holding compound...

The Spartans fanned into the compound and took down more of the Blue Suns that were there,though these guys apparently were not expecting them. Cortana then explained that she had managed to hack into the comm systems of the Blue Suns in the inner area of the compound while in the system and scramble their communicators so they were not sure what was going on and chalked it up to some gag or a false alarm. There were not that many left and there the two found a large amount of supplies and cargo that could be worth trading. But it was not long before the two stumbled on a more serious discovery in the holding compound...

Living beings...

John and Jorge looked at the captive aliens and they saw that the majority of them were of a race they had not met yet. They appeared human but seemed to be wearing some form of environmental hazard suit, had three fingers, feet that seemed to be webbed in a fashion and their faces were hidden by what seemed to be a form helmet with a visor that was the same as their own MJOLNIR visors. They decided to worry about that later however as they still had to hunt down the other slavers and prevent them from escaping, and they seemed to be recovering well enough on their own so interfering with them was not needed.

The two quickly moved out and that was when they were contacted by Cortana who was inside the base's security network.

"Guys, we've got a problem, there are two Batarian Blue Suns mercs in here and they took one of those new aliens we found not too long ago, and apparently this one is female...and I can wager a guess what they intend to do to her."

That naturally was not unknown to the two Spartans as they hustled it to the other floor where Cortana had marked the room. They very second they were at the room, Jorge wasted no time and kicked the door hard.

...

Moments before the door gets booted by Jorge...

"Leave me alone you bosh'tets!"

The Batarians laughed and replied as they surrounded the young Quarian girl.

"No dice you little bitch...you are going to be interesting to have once we take that suit off you."

The Quarian trembled in fear of this as she tried to find some way to escape or a weapon, but she found none of the sort. She looked at the way the Batarians looked at her and saw the intent in their four eyes. Horror and revulsion filled her as she shouted once more, wishing that she had a weapon to defend herself with.

"No! You can't! I'll get sick and worse if you..."

"If you get exposed? Does it matter? At least we finally get to see what you women really look like without those suits on and see just how well you handle this."

The young Quarian screamed out in fear as they closed in to take her, one already removed a Combat Knife from a holster on his back and they were already getting ready to attack her. She felt like crying as fear and horror continued to flow into her mind at what would happen to her. She knew the second she was in the room that it was surrounded in sound proofing material so no amount of screaming could make her be heard, but she was not going to just give up, she reached for what was a pipe and then tossed it at one of the Batarians.

The Blue Sun mercenary screamed out at the unexpected attack on him and she tried to take off, hoping to avoid the other one and leave, but her actions were not going to help as she was suddenly tripped and fell flat on her face.

"Augh!"

She turned as the one she hit with the pipe glared at her and wiped some blood from his mouth and he shouted.

"I am so going to enjoy breaking you Quarian brat, and if you die, doesn't matter, at least I can finally see just what you younger Quarian females are like!"

She looked on and fear as she felt frozen as the two came at her, but suddenly a massive explosion was heard, all she heard and no doubt the Batarians also heard was the sound of torn metal along with the screams of hydraulics and electronics malfunctioning. She then saw two massive shapes suddenly smash into the Batarians. All she heard next were their screams and the sounds of weapons fire, once she got her wits back, she looked and saw the two Batarians on the floor in a ever expanding pool of their own blood. And in front of her were two MASSIVE figures who looked like machines or people in armor, but the armor was unlike any combat suit she had ever seen in her life.

The Spartans looked at the young woman and moved towards her, she panicked and tried to reach for a weapon until the one carrying the massive weapon spoke to her.

"Hey it's all right, we're not here to hurt you."

The young Quarian stopped and looked at them again, it was then that several figures appeared in the area, one of them being an Asari who spoke to the two massive figures.

"We've secured the base and driven off the last of the pirates in the area, looks like this place is finally free of the Batarians for now."

The green armored one nodded and looked to the other armored being.

"Jorge, go out and check the area with Selena and the others to see if there is anything worth taking with us and also if there are other mercs left alive."

"Roger that Squad Leader."

...

It took a while to take the base on lock-down and some more time to search for any more of the Blue Suns. Once they were done and were sure that there were no more threats for them to deal with, the group began to search the bodies of the pirates and take what they could from the base of the now dead mercenaries. Their ships were now ruins in space as Dawn took them out piecemeal and both the copy of Cortana and Tarrek also made sure to locate anything worth salvaging from them and took them into the ship with the aid of the Sentinels that were there on hand.

As for the team on the ground, John and Jorge as well as the others took what they could from the bodies of the pirates as well as their lockers, PDAs, and terminals. It was enough to net the group a very tidy profit and plenty to trade with when they made it back to civilized space, but right now they had other concerns as the two Spartans were soon brought up to speed on the people that the pirates and slavers had managed to take this time around as they found the Codex file pertaining to the race and their name...the Quarians.

They had already freed them just as Shanni confirmed that there was a large ship at a hidden underground area of the compound she found that apparently been chopped up by the pirates of all viable parts and had destroyed every inch of the remains of the ship, rendering it as nothing more than a burned and eviscerated husk of a machine leaving only the beacon as a possible lure to get more ships to be taken down. The news of the ship and it's name of Noira filled the Quarians with anger and despair, even more so for one who apparently was a high ranking officer in the group. It took some time for the Quarians to calm down and also tend to the wounded and dead and this allowed the three to read all they could about the Quarians from the Codex.

...

As John and Jorge along with Cortana checked on the now freed Quarians as the others were gathering what they could find, the Master Chief began to try and open some dialogue with the Quarians and find out just what he and the others could learn about the Quarians. Despite the Codex from the Citadel explaining to him, Jorge, and Cortana who they were, they had a feeling that asking the members of the ship themselves was a far better way to learn of a race. Selena had told of how the Quarians were seen by other races, and what they heard was less than pleasing. However John was not going to take that face value as he had no doubt that the Quarians had their own thoughts on the matter and how the other races saw them.

As he sat down to face the Quarians, namely their Captain due to the elaborate suit that she wore, he spoke to them.

"Now then, I need to ask you questions."

The Captain of the now lost vessel, named Darnass Vas' Noira replied in a voice that had suspicion laced deeply into it to the Spartan.

"What exactly to you want from us? Granted you saved us but that does not mean that you can interrogate us."

"This is not an interrogation Captain, I merely need to ask some questions, and I am..."

"We know of you Master Chief, you've made an impact in the galactic scene already, and while the Migrant Fleet do not want anything to do with the Citadel, we DO keep abreast of events that can may be of concern to us. So what is it you want to know?"

John could easily sense the hostility there in the Quarian Captain, even though her face was hidden by her mask in the same way his and Jorge's was, he could tell from the voice despite the mechanical way it sounded due to the speakers, and the body language. This alien woman had just been freed from slavers who would have done far worse to them but she was not going to go down without a fight. That was something that he could understand in the circumstances and decided to keep that train of thought to himself as he spoke.

"What are you?"

The Quarian Captain made a slight gesture and changed her posture that spelled tension to John and Jorge and her reply was more evidence of it.

"What sort of question is that? We happen to be Quarians, don't tell me those in the Citadel never told you of our race."

John shook his head and replied.

"We do not know much about your people since the files pertaining to your people in the Codex is not exactly recent or up to date. I have read the files but I prefer to learn from the people themselves than from another source. I have no doubt that a lot has happened to your people ever since the events stated in the file."

Darnass snorted and replied.

"The Council can all take their political bullshit and shove it up their collective asses. But if you really want to know who we are, then fine."

What came next was a discussion on the Quarian people and how they came to be where they were, John, Jorge, and Cortana listened intently while the others from the Alliance and the Citadel decided to stay out of the conversation. All of them already knew enough about the Quarians and while some of them were not too trusting of the Quarians, they kept that to themselves. The Spartans had read the Codex that spoke of the Quarians as well as the negative comments and views towards their race as well as the rumors about them being cyborgs. It all sounded odd to the Spartans and the A.I but they kept their opinions to themselves, though Cortana was not the least bit happy about what she heard when it concerned their war with the Geth.

This was also a sour point to the two Spartans as they had no doubt that their experiences with the Geth could very well make them hostile to the Huragok, the Sentinels, and to Cortana herself if they saw her. That was going to have to wait for another time as the conversation finally ended with Darnass. The Quarian Captain seemed to be seething with anger at what she had been talking about, which was something that the Spartans could understand well enough on their own terms. Once things seemed to settle down, the Master Chief spoke to the Captain.

"So what exactly does your government plan to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your fleet can't sustain your people forever, and despite of the size of the Migrant Fleet, and your people's unique skills, you cannot remain like this forever either."

Darnass then spoke darkly.

"What business is that of yours Spartan? You are not a Quarian so do not presume that you know our situation more than we do!"

The Master Chief expected that and decided to let the matter slide for now as he decided to let them calm down a bit more and see how things were going for the others. He then made a call to Tarrek who was currently back on the Dawn.

"Tarrek, can you hear us?"

"Yeah Chief, but the signal's a bit choppy due to the interference out here, what do you need?"

"Get the Dawn down here so we can get what we salvaged from the base and the whole compound that we can use and trade with. It looks like we're going to have a lot to take back with us before you and the others head back to give the annual reports."

"Thanks, give me a few minutes and I'll be down soon enough."

...

As the Spartans turned away, a young Quarian, a woman judging by the way her suit hugged her frame called out to them though John sensed that this particular Quarian seemed familiar to him and the and could be said for Jorge.

"Wait!"

Both Spartans turned and the young Quarian stopped and for a moment seemed to be struck silent, that did not take long before she spoke again while rubbing her hands together, in a gesture that was similar to a human's way of showing worry to some degree. This was not lost to the Spartans as they listened to what she was going to say to them.

"I want to thank you, and I...must apologize for our Captain, she has not taken the loss of her ship well... and talking about our people's...past and present is not really a good thing."

Jorge replied to that.

"I guess we can understand that, you have a name Miss?"

"Oh...sorry about that, my name is Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I serve as one of the engineers on the Noira, and you saved me from those..."

John and Jorge now recognized her as the young Quarian who was about to be raped by the three Batarians they had caught with their proverbial pants down when they attacked the complex once Cortana took down the alarms in the compound. John nodded and so did Jorge as the Hungarian speaking Spartan II spoke gently though he had regressed to using Hungarian.

"It's good to see that you are no worse for wear then Tali."

The Quarian cocked her head aside in what was confusion in her part, she had knowledge of the Alliance trade language of English but not much else so the language of the Spartan before her was odd, though she heard her first name there.

"Pardon? What was that you said earlier?"

Jorge realized his slip and spoke once more in English.

"I apologize for that, went back to my native Hungarian language, I said it's good to see that you are no worse for wear Tali."

"Thank you...at any rate, I am happy that you accepted my apology, and now I have to help my people at least find a way to be transported off this place. We might need to be here a while and since the Batarians took our weapons, we will have to find ways to at least try and get back to the Migrant Fleet."

John nodded and looked at one of the salvaged weapons and gave a slight shake of his head as the weapon was ruined, no doubt from being shot too many times. Tali noted that and walked over to it and spoke to the Spartans.

"I can repair that if you want me to?"

John turned and replied.

"You can repair that?"

Tali nodded and John decided to see what she could do and prove if her people had such skills as was stated in the Codex. He nodded and allowed her to take the weapon to show him, Jorge, and Cortana how good she was.

...

It took some time but Tali was able to get to work and she studied it carefully, then she worked on taking it apart bit by bit, locating the broken parts and taking out some spare parts and quickly getting the weapon again. She then tested several times, took it apart to improve it a bit more and then show it to the ones who rescued her.

Cortana commented on what she had seen Tali do her thing as she observed the young woman's work on the damaged weapon, which was a BSA Lightning Strike Sniper Rifle they salvaged from the slain Blue Suns but those had been damaged in the fighting.

"She's good, real good."

John nodded as he looked at the fully repaired weapon and spoke to Tali.

"You've got excellent skills in mechanics and engineering for one of your age Tali."

The young Quarian nodded a bit and replied.

"T-Thanks, I had plenty of time to work on machines, being in the Migrant Fleet kind of does that to you and it part of our culture and need for survival. here, you can take this now and use it."

The Spartan looked at the results of her work once more and in better focus to see just what he could make from the repairs. It seemed that the Codex was correct about Tali's people needing to work very hard to maintain anything that they needed to ensure their survival. This made what they learned a lot more sensible and he decided to give it to her.

"No, you can have it."

"Really?"

"Yes, you repaired it well so it should be yours since you placed a good deal of effort to make it work."

Tali took the weapon and nodded.

"Thank you very much."

The others arrived along with the Quarians and it was here that they saw the Dawn arrive. Tali was surprise by the sheer size of the vessel and so were the Quarians. Jorge smirked a bit and as soon as the Dawn landed safely at the outside of the compound, they trooped in and began to ferry the supplies as John turned and spoke to the Quarians.

"You can join us and we can drop you off at the location of the Fleet if you wish."

The Quarians looked at one another and they then looked at the massive vessel, even though John could not see their faces, he could tell that many of them were trying to come up with a viable response to what they were going to do. They had no ship and with no viable pirate ship to use due to the fleet being eliminated by the Dawn in space, they could not take any ship with them. Darnass looked at her crew and then to the Dawn and the Spartans and then decided that she had little choice.

"Very well."

...

As soon as everything and everyone were in the Dawn, the Spartans had the Sentinels and the Huragok take what they could and have them brought into the cargo hold. The Quarians were surprised by the sight of the Huargok and Tali wondered just what they were, directing her question to Jorge.

"They're called Huragok, or engineers to the UNSC, they are not organic but are actually living machines."

This made the Quarians tense up and some were not very happy with that particular revelation as Tali spoke in a very quiet voice.

"They are not organic beings?"

"No, but they are not Geth either, they are pacifists and are only concerned with studying technology, repairing broken or damaged devices, and building machines of any make. In essence they are not hostile and do not have any desire to harm living beings and in essence violence is abhorrent to them."

This did not seem to ease the Quarians very well but it was there and then that one of the Huragok moved over to one of the Quarians who cringed back as the creature began to scan the omni-tool he had.

"What is it doing?"

The Huragok turned and began to make several gestures to John who replied with sign language and then the Spartan spoke.

"It says that it has detected some sort of tracking bug software in that omni-tool of yours, where exactly did you get it?"

"I...I got it off one of the Blue Suns your group killed after they trashed mine...I had no idea it had a tracking bug in it. How can it possibly know?"

"It's one of the Huragok that worked with omni-tools before, if it says that it has a tracking bug in it, I suggest you either get rid of it or let the Huragok remove the bug and scan the omni-tool again."

The Quarian looked at Darnass and the captain was silent for a moment later and gave her order.

"Leave it behind, I have no doubt we can get a replacement back in the Fleet."

The Quarian did so and removed his omni-tool and tossed it away as the Dawn was beginning to close the loading bay door.

She then turned to speak to the Spartans.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but we're not exactly keen on the idea on working with synthetic beings, even more so with being around them. And if I recall what I heard about you, you also have an A.I on this ship."

"I see that now is the time to reveal myself."

That was Cortana's voice and sure enough, the A.I revealed herself in front of the Quarians while the others, seeing that this was a tense moment, decided to leave and hope that nothing dangerous would occur between the Quarians and the Spartans.

Darnass hissed a bit and spoke out with venom in her voice the second she saw Cortana.

"So this is the A.I that you have in this ship."

John looked at the Quarians who were not the least bit happy with the presence of Cortana as well as the Huragok after learning of the origins and natures of the creatures in the ship that they were now in and the appearance of Cortana. He, Cortana, and Jorge could see that even Tali was not the least bit happy with his long time friend's presence. He knew that their history with A.I made them not the least bit friendly with any A.I program but he was not going to let that be the reason for hostility. He did so by speaking to them in a very stern and no nonsense manner.

"Cortana may be an A.I Captain, but she is not the same as the Geth that you have told me of and what I have learned. She is as much a part of the crew on the Dawn and is someone I have worked with for years so I trust her. Do not make any hostile actions towards her and the Huragok in the ship"

The Quarians were silent at this though the Captain was not the least bit pleased with an A.I onboard the ship that they were now on for them to return to the Migrant Fleet.

"How can you be so sure that you can really trust an A.I?"

John replied.

"I trust her enough to risk my life to keep her safe, you can of course choose to remain in the base and wait for the Migrant Fleet to come and pick you up."

Darnass was not pleased by the way things were but she knew that despite the presence of her fellow Quarians and the supplies they did find in the base, their ship was utterly destroyed so they had no form of transportation off planet and with many of the ships of the pirates utterly destroyed they did not have much options in being able to go back to the Migrant Fleet. She looked at the others and saw that while they were not very comfortable with the idea as well, they knew that they did not have much in terms of options. The Migrant Fleet was currently a fair distance away from the nearest Mass Relay and without a ship, they had no way to go back to their people.

She sighed and replied.

"Fine, we will not do anything against your A.I, but only as long as she does not pose a danger to us and the Migrant Fleet. If she does become a threat then we will demand that you leave and never come anywhere near our people or the Fleet or we will shoot you and your vessel. "

Cortana nodded and replied.

"Fair enough, I will make sure to not interfere with your people unless I am given leave by those of your people who have a high position in your government."

This managed to make things a bit cooler as the group of Quarians relaxed a bit and it was here that John and Jorge decided to lower their guard slightly and show no hostile intent to their new guests. John looked at Cortana and spoke to his long time friend.

"Do we have enough rooms for Darnass and her crew?"

The A.I nodded and replied.

"Yes, there should be ample quarters in one of the lower decks in the crew's quarters."

"Good, I'll leave Jorge in charge while I escort them to their rooms for now."

Jorge nodded in agreement and as soon as that was done, the Spartan gestured to the Quarians to follow him, which they did so reluctantly as they were still not very calm with the idea of being in a ship which had an A.I on it. John could see that and he replied to their concerns while guiding them to the ship.

"Cortana is a Smart A.I and is not the same as the Geth, I have read the files on the Geth Rebellion and what happened to your people but I will make this clear that Cortana is not in the same league as the Geth."

Tali then spoke.

"What makes you say that? She is a machine isn't she?"

"I am not contesting that, but Cortana was created in a different fashion than the Geth and if you know about me then you should know that she and I come from an alternate universe. There...A.I are different from what you deal with here."

One of the Quarians then spoke, a male from the tone of the voice along with the design of the suit.

"And what makes her so special from any A.I?"

John could hear the venom there and that annoyed him a bit but he kept in mind what he learned of the Quarians and replied.

"She was created from the cloned brain of a living person for one, unlike the Geth who from what I have learned that rely on each other to learn and grow. Cortana is able to learn and advance on her own pace as she is able to think independently with whatever data she gains and does not rely on other A.I to learn, and is able to plan, and be creative with what she has on hand. In a sense you can say that she is the soul of a human made into a program."

That stopped the Quarians cold as Darnass spoke in shock.

"That...thing was created from a cloned brain? How is that even possible?"

John turned and replied calmly.

"That thing you refer to has a name, but I will let that slide for now, like I said, she, Jorge and I come from an alternate universe and where we come from, none of the races who are part of the Council, or not in the Council including your own race exist. We use A.I considerably and there are two types, Smart and Dumb A.I, each with their own purposes and functions, and we do have security measures for them as well."

John then gave the Quarians the 'nutshell' version of how the UNSC created Smart A.I like Cortana and needless to say, they were utterly stunned by the idea of an actual A.I that was created from an exact electronic map of a living being's brain. Most people whould have wondered why he did it, but John knew that making A.I was not too big a secret though he like all UNSC personnel understood the need to either protect A.I with sensitive information, or the need to terminate A.I who had gone Rampant. That had been enough to get the Quarians to their rooms and thankfully with little incident, though he decided to speak to Tali to see how the young Quarian was doing.

"Can I speak to you for a moment Tali?"

The young Quarian looked at the Spartan in surprise and made that obvious in her next question.

"You want to speak to me?"

"Yes."

Tali looked at her Captain and Darnass nodded reluctantly but not before glaring at the Spartan and replied.

"Do not harm her Spartan."

John nodded and he looked at Tali and spoke once more as he guided her to a nearby security station that was in the Dawn's design, once they were there, he motioned for Tali to sit down, she accepted the order and he looked at her. It was hard for him to imagine that the young girl had nearly suffering being raped by slavers and pirates, it made him angry a bit as such a crime to a youngster was inexcusable by any standard. He placed those feelings aside for now and spoke to her.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"What? Oh...I am fine,why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know if you were truly all right, the last series of events didn't scar you?"

The Quarian was quick to catch on and replied slowly.

"I am...fine, I really am...oh Kee'lah, I was nearly..."

The young woman trembled and John decided to let her show her emotions for a bit and she did as she began to sob, the fact that she had managed to keep herself together after such a traumatic event was commendable. Once he sensed that she had let some of it out he spoke to her a bit.

"You care to tell me what exactly happened before Jorge and I freed you?"

Tali nodded and explained what had happened and what the Batarians had planned to do her, the descriptions angered the Spartan even more and he mentally thanked the fact that they made it in time when they did. The idea of those pirates doing those things to a teenager was disgusting to him as despite the events that shaped him and the others in the Spartan II Program, they were taught that rape was a serious crime no matter the situation and circumstance. As soon as she was done talking, Tali spoke in a very tired tone as she was crying as the memories of what happened and the thoughts on what could have happened had John and Jorge had been too late began to fade away.

"Thank you for...coming when you both did, I owe you not just my life, I owe you everything Kee'lah se'lai."

"It's all right, but I should mention something to you first Tali. You might want to thank Cortana for that part as well."

Tali was confused at first and wary as she was still not trusting of A.I and replied.

"Why? What reason could I have to thank...you're A.I?"

"It was Cortana who discovered you being taken by the Batarians earlier, and she already knew what was going to happen to you and she quickly guided us to your location. If she had not done that, we would have not known and make it in time to save you from them."

In her environmental suit and her helmet, Tali was wide eyed, she could not believe what she had just been told, she owed her life, her health...and her...dignity to an A.I! An A.I had actually guided her rescuers to her location and helped save her! The idea sounded so preposterous to her, but while she could not see the Spartan's face, he seemed to be telling the truth, but she wanted to certain.

"Are you sure about what you are saying?"

John nodded and detailed what had happened to her and when he was done, he spoke once more.

"Cortana marked your exact location to my HUDs and to Jorge's own so that is how we came to your location and she was the one who told us of what exactly would happen to you if we did not make it in time."

The young Quarian was silent at this and did not know what to say, it was here that one of the nearby holo-tanks, a fair distance away from the two came online and there was Cortana herself. The A.I then spoke as she spotted John and Tali as she knew that they had to talk about some matters, namely concerning the trip to meet the Admiralty Board and the Migrant Fleet.

"Good to see that you're here John, I've locked in the coordinates to the exact location where the Quarian Migrant Fleet are so we can send them back to their people. It's a fair distance from where we are though, nearly to the Outer Rim of the Galaxy to be more precise."

John nodded and replied.

"All right, before we make the jump I want to cruise around a bit more to see if the Pirates have any more surprises in the area. Once we're done and this area is cleared, send word to both the Alliance and the Citadel Council of what we found here and have them mark this place as not a good place for colonization."

"Right, I've also done some scanning of the asteroids there in the area and there seem to be good deposits of metals there we can use, so I'll mark it so we can come back and harvest the stuff if we need it or we could send the information to those willing to pay for it. At any rate, we should hurry to meet up with the Migrant Fleet once we've made our guests comfortable. And when we get to the Fleet, we'll allow them to take what they want so we can drop them off and have them bring what they need for their people."

...

It did not take long for the crew of the Dawn to be given the location of the Migrant Fleet, the Fleet was currently moving to a faraway star system to do some mining work and it was Darnass who guided them there. John and Jorge were in the bridge and watched the Quarian captain as she and the other Quarians arrived to see the Slipspace Drive kick in. They were naturally surprised by way the Slipspace portal worked and soon in mere moments, they were near the Migrant Fleet, needless to say, the Quarians had not expected this as they had thought that they should have gone to the closest Mass Relay and then used FTL...instead, the Dawn was before the Fleet in record time.

Darnass gave the phrase to show that the Dawn was not a threat and that there were Quarians onboard who were unharmed as well as she. This was noted by the Spartans as well as Cortana as the Dawn was soon docking with what would be the main meeting ship of the Quarians' government which was the Conclave according to what they had learned, and the Admiralty Board. As soon as they docked, the two Spartans oversaw the thing and saw the Quarians return home happily, and saw a number of Quarian Marines who were armed approach the two of them and the leader spoke.

"Greetings to you Spartan, Captain of the Dawn, the Admiralty Board wishes to speak with you."

John and Jorge did not argue and they were brought deeper into the ship and there in the meeting hall/garden were several more Quarians, one of whom they saw as Tali who hugged another female Quarian and talking, they heard the name 'Auntie Raan' and then the word mother when another female Quarian. They did not have to wait too long as the Board appeared, it was here that Tali came and explained who the people of the Board were, one was Shala'Raan who she had been with earlier, then her father Admiral Rael'Zorah, Admiral Han'Gerrel, Admiral Xen, and Admiral Qwib Qwib.

It was here that the Admirals spoke to the Spartans, with Rael mentioning that he was thankful that they had saved his daughter from a very disturbing and bloody fate. John and Jorge nodded at that and listened to the Admirals carefully while also looking at the conditions of the Quarian people. They also got a feel of the Admirals, Shala'Raan seemed to be a neutral party and mediatior, Rael and Han'Gerrel seem to be more of the militant group though Tali's father seemed to be a bit more unique in his stance, Admiral Zaal'Koris was seen as a radical and sympathizer to the Geth though his desire for peace was understandable, and Xen...she was not someone the Spartans felt was ethical.

As soon as it was over, the Spartans decided to take their leave and were given permission to come and go to the Fleet if they wished. As the Dawn left the Fleet's range into the still surprising Slipspace Portal the Quarians thought that it would be the last they would see of the Spartans as they felt that they would not care for the plight of the Quarians despite their rescue of the crew of the Noira and the daughter of an Admiral...

They were unaware of the fact that their meeting with the Spartans was going to be a boon to them in the times to come.

...

Back on Reach...

John, Jorge, and Cortana were currently reading the Codex concerning the Quarians again as well as reviewing the records they had on their conversations with the rescued Quarians including Tali. At this time, the others were back with the Citadel and the Alliance and it would be at least four months or so before they would need to be picked up. This gave the three time to consider a number of options, as their time with the Quarians and the things that they had seen on Migrant Fleet had told them that they could get allies from them. But they needed something that would be a viable gift as asking for members of the Quarians to join them would not be well received by the Admiralty Board and the Conclave.

Jorge spoke.

"Any ideas?"

Cortana replied.

"We should at least focus on what these people need and the most critical of all. They need ships, space to house more of their people, food supplies, materials, spare parts, and more besides. They are a refugee population after all, they are like the Colonials in that old science fiction show Battle Star Galactica, but their situation is real, not some creation of a writer's mind."

John spoke next.

"What about giving them a colony to live on?"

"Not a very good idea, it will take generations for them to adapt to a new world John, and they cannot afford the risk either. Keep in mind that their homeworld was the only place where they could live due to their very weak immune system, and their time in the Fleet has no doubt weakened their immune system even more. Looking for a world that has the ideal conditions that would be able to help them would be very much impossible since the UNSC and Forerunner databases we have with us have no record of any world like that. Besides that, you can bet that there will be a lot of resistance to the idea of settling in a world not their own as many of the people there would have the dream of taking their world back from the Geth. We could end up sparking a civil riot on that ship, and from what we have seen, we have to agree that such an event is the last thing they need."

Jorge then replied.

"Then let's give them what they need, we're not going to take their old homeworld for them since we know nothing about the Geth ourselves, so we can give them the next best thing."

Cortana then replied.

"You realize how expensive that is?"

"I do, but we do have the materials and resources for it, plus we can order supplies since we do have the credits for that sort of thing. It might not be what some of them want, but at least they will have something to help them."

John thought it over and replied.

"We will have to modify them extensively for the Quarians though, but if it works, then they get something and we get something...all right, let's do it."

...

Months later...

The Admiralty Board and the Conclave could not help but look at the new ships in utter shock...and for good reason.

The Fleet had been working on some needed repairs on their ships when they were informed of the arrival of the Dawn itself, they had not expected this and wondered just what the Spartans wanted. The two figures arrived into the meeting ship where the Admirals were waiting for them and soon it was revealed that they had some gifts to gift to the Quarians. They wondered what that was and soon got their answer when four more Slipspace portals suddenly appeared. And from the hearts of the portals before them in the viewing screens came the ships that were more than enough to get the attention of the Quarians.

The largest of the ships were nearly the size of Dreadnoughts and they certainly looked the part of Dreadnoughts as well as the Quarians in the Board and the Conclave looked on, and no doubt so did the other other Quarians. The two ships were smaller but no less impressive and seemed to be full blown warships as well. They turned and demanded what was going on and John replied that there were the gifts they were going to give the Quarian people and handed them the schematics of the ships in question.

Shala'Raan and the other Admirals in the Board looked at the schematics of the four ships provided to them by the Spartans and John could tell from their body language and movements, the Admirals were still trying to grasp the scope of what he, Jorge, and Cortana had just given them. It was understandable as the two Phoenix Class Colony Ships which they had retrofitted well for combat and support roles while the Destroyers were fully made to fight as warships to defend the Fleet and provide heavy muscle as well since it did have a large number of newly developed Longswords and some Sabres in them to boot.

They looked at one another and soon it was she who spoke to the Spartans.

"You had these ships made for the Fleet and you are giving these to us?"

"Yes, they are free of charge as well. They are all fully stocked and supplied and ready for use with a number of changes that will be adequate to the needs of your people. They are also combat capable so they can be useful in whatever role you deem worthy for them to take though the two Destroyers are more suited for combat roles and so are their interceptors."

This sent out shouts of surprise, confusion and more through the audience in the garden and it took some time before the Board managedto gain some semblance of calm, it was here that Zaal'Koris spoke.

"You are giving us these ships free of charge? How can we be sure that this 'generous' offer is not some elaborate trap?"

Jorge replied.

"With all due respect to you Admiral, we are an independent party, in the same way as your people are, though we are watched by the Council and the Alliance. We know about what happened to your people as we have talked to your people who we rescued, and we have to admit that we are sympathetic to your situation."

Koris then replied.

"You are sympathetic to our people? And you had these ships built to be gifts to us? I find that hard to believe, even more so that you have the resources and manpower to even make them in such a short time of four months. And how can we be sure that those ships are even worthy for use?"

"We do have the means Admiral and there is no reason for us to lead you into a trap, you already know that we're not from this universe from what you have learned from galactic communications so what can we gain by making your people our enemies? And besides that, why would we make such ships and spend all that time, resources, credits, and manpower if we gave you faulty and untrustworthy equipment? We do know of the stigma for giving a substandard gift so we made sure that these are top of the line vessels."

The Quarians talked about that and it was here than John spoke.

"If you have doubts about our offer, you can dispatch any of your Fleet's Marines and available crew to explore and examine the ships for yourselves. If there are concerns that you have concerning the technology on the ships themselves there are files in the data-pads that can help as well as files we have on hand."

The Admiralty Board looked at one another and Shala'Raan spoke once more to the assembled group.

"Very well, we will dispatch Marine teams and engineers to scan these ships and see if they are indeed the genuine article, and while you and your companion are here in the Migrant Fleet, you are not to leave unless given leave by the Board. Is that acceptable to you Captain?"

John was still not all that comfortable with the idea of being a Captain when he did not ever earn the rank himself, but he decided to just deal with it at a later time. He nodded and replied to the question placed before him by Shala'Raan.

"I agree."

...

John and Jorge were currently there on one side of the ship while the other Quarians were still giving them something of a wide berth, not exactly an easy thing to do considering how space in the Fleet was at a premium. It was that bad that the Spartans had to find a place that was a good distance from the people without taking space that was in the ownership of any of the people there. John looked at the people and so did Jorge as they took in what life was like among the Quarians. The sight was not very heart warming and it galled Jorge a good deal and John could see it easily due to all Spartans being able to tell each other's moods through simple movement.

"What's the problem Jorge?"

"These conditions the Quarians live in Squad Leader, space is very limited, poor immune systems, moving from place to place, it's appalling in so many ways. Why didn't the Council even try to help them in a better fashion than this? They may have created these Geth but I don't think that they all deserve this kind of fate."

"I know, but we will have to wait and see just how things are going to turn out for them."

Jorge nodded as they were a neutral faction and they were not allowed to interfere with any sovereign nation or power unless they posed a threat to Humanity and as far as they knew, the Quarians and the Alliance did not have hostile relations. It was going to be a while so they stayed put until they were approached by Tali who spoke to them with surprise in her voice.

"You made those ships for our people? Why?"

John replied.

"We, Cortana included decided that we can do something to help you and your people to show that not everyone in the galaxy sees the Quarians negatively. We could not help fight the Geth for your homeworld or anything since despite our technology we do not have the knowledge of the Geth or manpower for such a move. So we decided to give those instead. You see, your people's plight reminds us of an old show known as Battle Star Galactica though in your case, it is all real."

"I have never heard of it, what is it?"

Jorge told Tali of the show in a nutshell and she was shocked that there was something like that at all. It took a while for her to get used to what she was hearing and then recalled that Cortana herself had helped in the making of the ships and spoke.

"Did your...?"

"Did Cortana help in the construction? She did, she also made sure to make some very critical adjustments and improvements to the ships as well. She did it since she felt that your people deserve a chance to live and be given hope, she knows that she cannot change your people's stance on A.I but she does not care. To her, to give your people a fighting chance is enough for her."

This left Tali silent for a while until the reports came back and the Admiralty Board recalled the meeting.

...

Shala'Raan then spoke to the assembled groups and then to the Spartans.

"Our engineers and Marines have not yet completed their work, but already they have told us of the ships being well supplied, built to a standard that is beyond anything we have seen, and being more than able to house nearly tens or even a hundred or more thousands of our people in comfort. They also are armed and equipped with remarkable technology that will be a great aid to our people in our needs to survive. These gifts are unlike anything that had been brought to the Fleet and as such are too valuable to turn down."

The other Admirals agreed to such an assessment and the Quarians looked at the two Spartans intently and waited for the words of the other members of the Admiralty Board.

Han'Gerrel then spoke next.

"I suppose that these gifts are indeed too valuable to turn down, as you guess that most if not all the ships in the Fleet are second hand vessels or older models, having ships fresh out of the shipyard is a dream come true for most of us, even more so when they are fully supplied, armed, equipped, and free of charge. But I suspect that you would want something in return, no one offers such gifts without an angle somewhere."

John nodded.

"You would be right, in exchange for the ships, we would like to ask if some of your people would like to work on our own ship. Naturally it is entirely up to the chosen members if they will to work on contract or permanent residence. We don't need a hundred, just a handful will do."

Admiral Rael'Zorrah then spoke seriously as he looked at the Spartan.

"Just a handful? What kind of people are you looking for exactly?"

"We mostly need veteran engineers, support crew, pilots, and Marines, we naturally require all of the ones we need to have combat skills as well so they can defend themselves when it is needed. There's plenty of room in the Dawn and we can condition them to allow the Quarian members to be in a safe and sterile environment. As I stated we only need a handful, not a large force, and it has to be a strictly all volunteer outfit."

The Admirals were deep in thought and then Admiral Xen spoke to the Spartans.

"I wish to know what exactly do you hope to gain with some of our people working for you and on your ship Spartan. You must have a very good reason for asking for a handful of our people."

John already had a reply to that.

"We saw how your people were able to make the most of whatever resources you have on hand, and the expertise your people have in technology, specifically the technology native to this reality can be helpful along with the other talents they can offer. Those are the kinds of skills that are very helpful to us, along with mining, converting new technology, as well as being able to learn quickly. We will ensure that when your people return they will be able to send whatever supplies, funds, and resources that you need in our forays into the galaxy."

The Quarians had to admit that it was a very promising deal, in fact a number of the younger and even older Quarians began to comment that this was essentially a massive win for the Fleet in every respect. And the Admirals knew it as well, they not only gained access to four new ships that could help them in many ways, but also be able to gain supplies and funds that the Fleet would need. But that was when Jorge decided to mention something that was going to seal the deal.

"And there is the fact that since the Council does recognize our group as an independent body, we do not fall under Citadel jurisdiction, so if there are some of your people that are with us, then they are our responsibility and not that of the Council. As such, they are not going to be under the Council's thumb and can work without having to worry too much about people watching over them like hawks."

The Admirals thought it over for a while and Tali's father spoke.

"We will deliberate on this matter further, and if we agree, we will send a volunteer group to be under your command."

...

In the Dawn's bridge...

It was not long before the Admiralty Board decided that they would agree with the terms of the Spartans, they had already began to ask any of their people who wished to take part of the group. And it was not long before the Spartans escorted the group in question, they comprised of seventeen Quarian pilots, twenty Marines, twelve engineers including Tali who had asked permission from her father, two Quarian doctors, one supply officer, and four technicians. The Spartans soon guided the Dawn away from the Migrant Fleet and once they left, they soon helped their new crew settle in for the day. They had made sure that a number of rooms would have Sterile Field Generators in them to help the Quarians should they wish to remove their uniforms.

Already the Quarians were moving about to see the Dawn in full detail though they heeded the rules of the Spartans and avoided key areas that were still on lock-down as John's order. The two were in the bridge when one of the Quarians came to them, and judging by the suit and the weapon he had in hand, he was a Marine, and a high ranking one at that.

The Quarian Marine carried himself like a professional, that much the two Spartans could see as he spoke to them after giving a salute that the Spartans quickly returned, though he was speaking to John himself.

"My name's Kal'Reegar, I'm the head of the Marine detachment that the Admiralty Board agreed to allow to work with you Captain."

John then replied.

"You realize that I am not a full fledged Captain?"

"That may be the case, but you are the one who commands the ship and you have a lot of authority here so that makes you the Captain in our people's eyes. It's a bit odd to most people Captain, but that's the way we work. And I think that would make your fellow Spartan and your...A.I as your two XO."

Jorge then spoke.

"You have an issue with having Cortana on-board the Dawn?"

The Quarian remained silent for a moment or two and then spoke.

"I'm usually a point and shoot man sir, tell me where to go and who to fight and I'll do it. I can't say that I'm a fan of that A.I of yours but since you seem to have a great deal of trust on...her, then I am not going to make a fuss out of it. Unlike the others of my people I know that your A.I was never made by any of us so judging it as a Geth creation is uncalled for. Besides I read the reports and what I have read tells me that your A.I is going to be a very interesting twist in how A.I work considering being able to do all that in the reports all by herself is impressive. if she's got my back and that of my team and not harm anyone in our delegation, then I am more than willing to work with her."

The Spartans could tell that he was telling the truth and John turned to a nearby holo-tank and spoke.

"So what do you think Cortana?"

Cortana appeared and smiled at Kal'Reegar as she spoke to the Quarian.

"I think I am going to like working with Kal'Reegar."

It was here that Tali arrived on the bridge and she spoke to the Spartans.

"I am happy to be here, it might take some time...to get used to a ship this size, and with such...company, but I feel that I can at least find a way to thank you for all you have done. I only hope that I did not get in way over my head though."

Cortana then turned to Tali and spoke.

"Tali, you will be a fine addition to the crew, and if it will make you feel better, I will only appear if you need assistance on a matter. You don't have to like me, you can of course try to tolerate me if you wish."

Tali looked and replied.

"I...will keep that in mind."

...

Despite the fact that this was happening...the results of the attack of the Spartans on the Blue Suns were already filtering into the rest of the Terminus Systems. The Batarians were naturally furious about what was going on and the death of so many of their people despite them being Blue Suns, the other races were also divided on the matter, some wanted to give the Spartans a wide berth as they did not want to die by their hands, the others despite the carnage wanted to try to get them, either for their technology, or the bragging rights to being the ones to kill these super soldiers.

...

In Omega's Afterlife Bar...

Aria T'Loak looked at the files and could not help but smile a bit as she listened to the din in the Afterlife, she had to admit that she felt a shiver of shock and unease at the reports of the slaughter in the Blue Suns base. The Blue Suns were furious and demanding that a bounty be placed on the heads of the Spartans, but she doubted that even the most rabid merc would try it after seeing the abilities of the Spartans. This was only possible due to the fact that the compound had some cameras which were in a stand alone server that was missed.

Still, she had to give the Spartans credit, they were impressive indeed...she had to admit that she was curious about them and after looking at the files on their physical appearance, that rose a few notches. The one known as the Master Chief was...attractive and so was the one known as Jorge despite the beard and mustache as it was called.

"I doubt they would come here though...but if they did, seeing them in action should be good."

The Asari placed the file aside and decided to focus on Omega for now...she doubted that the Spartans would come here, but if they did, thenlife here was going to become VERY exciting.

...

To be continued...

...

Author's Notes:

Finally an update...

I am sorry for the long delay for the updates for this story but with a lot of things going on in my life, I did not have the time that I wished, however, I do have some good news.

My computer is now fully operational and I have a UPS for surge protection as well as some new AV software in the computer, though I will need to wait for the right time to get a Broad-band kit to allow me to connect to the internet so I don't have to go out all the time from my new home. This means that I might now be able to go back to writing much earlier than I expected.

However, that is not a reason for me to be cautious with my computer, and also I need to be sure that as soon as possible, I can be able to work and earn money of my own that I can use. And this was sent via USB so I do not have internet yet.

...

As for the story...

As you can see, the story is alive and kicking so I hope to update this at a better time when I can finally get the kit, and for those who have been asking for me to take in Quarians into the Dawn then I hope that this will show that there will be some Quarians in the crew, the Salarians will come in at a later date. If this is a good chapter then I am happy as it has been some time, and if not,then tell me where I went wrong when you have the free time.

One of them is indeed Tali herself though she is younger in this story so she is not yet at the age that she was when she joins Shepard's crew and therefore her time in the Dawn will have effects on her when she does join the Normandy once she returns to the Fleet and soon takes part on her Pilgrimage. Don't expect her to be totally different though, she still will not trust A.I but she will be a lot more tolerant of Cortana and may have a bit of a rivalry with the A.I

This will naturally carry to her time in the Normandy 2 once I work on making the sequel of this story, she will a be a lot more calm around EDI though she will still be hostile towards Legion when they meet though not too much.

As for the idea of her having a relationship with the Master Chief as was shown in the previous poll, then I will try to make an effort of allowing the two to interact with one another while Tali serves her time in the Dawn, this might allow them to develop a relationship of trust which may or may not turn into a romantic relationship. I will also make sure to make that said relationship as realistic as possible and it is my hope that this idea will actually work out for the best.

Of course there will be some other female Quarians in the Quarian delegation who will serve as the liaison group for the UNSC to the Migrant Fleet so don't think that Tali is the only one there in the group.

And as you all have read, Kal'Reegar is with the crew as well, I liked him in ME2 and I did have his butt in Haestrom so I decided to bring him here and his time with the Spartans might even have some good benefits to the Quarians when we go to the sequel when this story is over. He might even be armed with a far different set of weapons when Shepard and company meet up with him.

Just so you all know, the Quarians in the group will not be there forever and some will go back to the Migrant Fleet, though some will remain and form a core group of Quarians in the Dawn. And they too will play a role once we get down to the events that lead to the war with Saren and Sovereign.

...

The addition of the two Phoenix Class Colony Ships and the two Destroyers might be a bit much to some, but I could not find any other way to have the UNSC crew give the Fleet something to allow them to take a number of Quarians to work with them along with Tali. Giving them a new world might have been a viable idea, but I decided against it as it is too common a move and could become a problem. Looking for a world that is viable for the Quarians and suitable for their biology has been used so I want to do things my way.

The ships are very much built to UNSC Navy ship building Code though they do have some new features to them to make them a lot different from the regular ships. The first is that they are armed with shields for defensive works and actually are larger than before and are able to hold at least twice the regular crew load. And they are larger and longer so they have an increased amount of space for the Quarians to make use of.

I don't exactly have the specifics on on the crew numbers needed in a UNSC Destroyer but since they are twice the size of UNSC Frigates, I can guess that they have twice the crew numbers of one. Add to that is the fact that there is room for the security detachments of UNSC Marines, and ODSTs,you can have a lot of room for the Destroyers.

As for the Phoenix Class Colony Ships, they have enough from for a baseline crew numbering at least 11,000, that's not counting the room for supplies, equipment, and vehicles. Now since the ships in this case have been reinforced and retrofitted into warships, there is enough room for thousands of Marine and ODSTs along with support personnel, along with equipment, vehicles, and supplies. You can bet that the Quarians are going to be happy for the extra space and supplies. Even more so with the case of the Phoenix Class ships as they are made to have far better armor and weapons as well as the shields

The two Phoenix Class Colony Ships are also retrofitted to be able to serve as agricultural ships which have been made to work for the Quarians to grow food and supplies for their own needs. This will certainly up the status of the UNSC group to the Migrant Fleet since they have added two more sources of food and living space to help support the three Liveships which serve as the source of food for the Fleet. This is possible since the ships have been increased in size and length so they have plenty of room.

And all four ships are equipped with special Sterile Field Generators that have their radiation fields calibrated to be harmless to the Quarians and physiology so they have the option to be able to move around the ships without their suits. I've got no idea what Quarians actually look like, just like the rest of us actually, so I will be using a reference to images I have seen made by artists not part of Bioware so do not mistake what I make for the real thing. Until Bioware does make official images of Quarians out of their suits, then I am going with what is present. The Sterile Field Generators emit the radiation in every corner of the interior of the ships in question so it is going to be a load safer for the Quarians.

Since these do not rely on E-zero for fuel and power, this limits the need for the Quarians to go to areas rich in E-zero but could bring them into conflict with people in the area. And sooner or later, once the Quarians understand the physics of Slipspace from the Spartans, that will help them a lot in the long run, though only these ships are armed with Forerunner built Slipspace Drives and not the other vessels in the Migrant Fleet.

The ships are also combat capable and armed with a good deal of weapons for defense and offense if it comes to it as they are built to UNSC Navy code so expect that Cerberus will have a hell of a time attacking the Fleet the very second that event from the novel occurs. But don't expect them to be sent into the front lines, the ships are critical in helping the Fleet so they are not going to used all the time, and you can bet that when their presence is revealed to the Citadel, there is going to be some serious discussions going on once the Council learns of the gifts given by John, Jorge, and Cortana to the Quarians. Giving them four ships that are as powerful or even more so than the Destiny Ascension is really going to get their dander up.

...

Will the UNSC group help the Quarians retake their homeworld from the Geth? Or will they find a way to foster a peace between the two races? That remains to be seen so I suggest not to get too wild with the ideas, but if you want to offer your suggestions then by all means...just try not to make suggestions that might be a bit much even for me okay?

And yes...you can bet that the scene in Afterlife WILL be fleshed out more in the second story once I finish with this one.

See you soon!


	10. Trade Agreements

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 9

Trade agreements…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

Tali was deep in concentration as she was currently looking over the details pertaining to the older UNSC Slipspace Drive and she was impressed by the science that was involved in the making of such a device. She and her fellow Quarians had been working in the Dawn for at least a few weeks or so, just as the others of the Dawn's crew arrived.

The group had been surprised considerably when they were able to see that she and her people were in large numbers on the hybrid UNSC vessel. And when the Spartans explained what had happened and how they had given the Quarians the ships, they were not very pleased with the situation, though not in a bad way. Selena was well aware of the negative way most people in the Citadel, even among her own people viewed the Quarians and also there were those among the Alliance who did not see the Quarians favorably.

That was why she decided to speak to the Spartans about that matter and Christie was naturally along for the ride as the Asari and the Human were speaking to the Spartans while the Dawn was currently moving about in the depths. of space that was in the areas of Citadel space to allow the Quarians to get used to working on the Dawn.

Selena was naturally the very first person to speak on the matter before them.

"What you have done is going to raise quite a number of eyebrows along with ignite some tempers. I personally do not have anything against the Quarians at all, but I am sure that there are others among the Citadel who would wonder why they got the chance to gain access to the technology that the Citadel has yet to receive. That can be a serious problems if it's not addressed soon enough."

Christie also nodded in agreement with the Asari Spectre.

"I have to agree, and you can bet that the generals and politicians in the Alliance who want to get their hands on the technology are going to be going ape. There's not serious enough issue between the Alliance the Quarians but there are going to be people who are not going to be happy that the Quarians got the technology and they did not."

The Master Chief had to agree as both Selena and Christie had merit in their arguments and they knew that sooner or later, they needed to address it. Jorge was the first to speak to the two women.

"We'll find a way to deal with that as soon as the time comes. But you will have to tell them that until we have done some key work and also done some important decisions, we will not budge on the decisions that we have made. We helped the Quarians of our own volition and we will not take back what we have done for them. The Quarians here on the Dawn are now recognized members of the crew and are not to be removed unless they have done something that is a risk to the security of the UNSC and any classified information that will warrant their removal from the Dawn, and they are the ones who will represent their people as well."

Selena and Christie nodded reluctantly as they could tell that the Spartans were not going to budge on the matter at all. Once that was over and done with, the Spartans decided to oversee to the situation of the crew and also ensure that the Quarians were used to the situation that they were now in. This would also allow them to take the time and make some much needed changes to whatever they felt the Quarians would be able to use.

Naturally they were still cautious around the Quarians and while they did do a good thing for the Quarians, they were not going to lower their guard that easily. The Quarians still needed to be reminded that they still had to earn their trust at some point before they could open the rest of their technology to them. This might seem as a contradiction to many, but the Spartans did not see it that way, they did this to make sure they had the support of the Quarians and also get access to their skill set, in turn, they would help their people as well once they were sure that they were on the level.

…

It was going to be a while before the Spartans were going to make their move, but this was all right, as they were working in the Dawn while moving around in Citadel space. It was enough time for them to get their assets together and also make some more trading runs to get rid of any excess material and items that was going to only weigh them down and take up space. Naturally they also made sure to keep themselves attuned with the news on what was happening in the galaxy that they were in.

Since they had the design prototypes with them and Cortana still had the designs of the weapons they had developed a few months before, they decided to get some work done. The newest addition to the projects that Cortana was working on was on a shotgun design as well as a pistol design that would complete the set of weapons that they were developing earlier. Cortana was eager to get back to work and make sure that she had weapons that could be useful and could also help them in more ways than one.

The vehicle prototypes they had also developed were soon going to be tested to make sure that they were up to the standard. They only needed to get to a planet that would provide them a fully balanced environment that would ensure that the vehicles were fully tested and could be ready for combat. John also knew that he and the others would also need to see that their expanded crew was able to get up to speed with their vehicles. They had no plans to give the weapon prototypes that they had to anyone since they were still that…they were prototypes and not yet combat tested as well. They used the world's technology but not the same system and functions and as such had to be seen not just in a simulated combat location, but the real thing.

However, they needed to gather more material and develop spare prototypes on the off chance that the current models either destroyed themselves or they had to be destroyed to prevent them from being taken by unknown hostiles.

So far the new expanded crew members were doing well, though there was still some level of tension in the Quarians as they were not the least bit comfortable to work with A.I. Though they were all pleased as Kal'Reegar and Tali were helping to keep the peace for them though it was not simple. Selena and Christie had already informed both the Alliance and the Council and no doubt there was a great chance that the people there on either side were now aware of what was happening and no doubt there was going to be a lot of questions.

They knew that it was going to happen so now was the right time for them to go dark as it were. However, they made sure to keep the people of both the Alliance and the Citadel in the loop since they still had to prove that despite these things were happening, they were not doing anything that would be considered as wrong in most if not all respects.

…

Tali was still getting used to the Dawn as she and Kal'Reegar were working in unison to make sure that things were going to work well with her handling civilian matters while he handled the military aspect of things. Already seeing the Dawn and being able to study it more intensely was becoming her favorite hobby. It still amazed her that this entire vessel ran completely on a power source that had no element zero in it, and for good reason. Tali had grown up knowing the value of e-zero for a very long time and how important it was for all technology to function, from vehicles, weapons, armor, and ships. And yet here she was on a ship that operated completely from element zero, and there was technology that was completely unique and powerful at the very same time on this ship that was not working on e-zero.

The chance to learn a completely new source of technology as well as being able to find other ways to improve the conditions of the Flotilla was indeed too hard to ignore in her mind. And now she got that chance, she was still not very comfortable with the idea of working with an A.I but so far Cortana seemed to be all right and she did say that she could at least tolerate her. Plus, she had ever met an A.I that was so…life like, and the fact that the other members of the crew of the Dawn seemed comfortable around Cortana seemed to help her ease a bit on her wariness. The fact that she oversaw the construction of the ships they had given her people added to that, she knew her father and the other admirals had been very thorough and found nothing that could be considered a trap on any of the ships, proving that Cortana was sincere about her desire to help her people. It was not enough to convince her to completely trust A.I, but it was enough to make her loosen her hatred a bit and work with Cortana.

Kal'Reegar was doing his best and she respected the Marine, he might call himself a point and shoot kind of man, but she knew better. He was smarter than most would think and had a great deal of understanding of the intricacies of Quarian politics. That was why she was happy that he was helping her own in these matters, though she wished that he didn't have to call her ma'am, she was till too young and was not really a high ranking Quarian though she was the daughter of an Admiral.

As for Kal'Reegar, he was very curious to see just what the Dawn could do, the video records were interesting enough, but he wanted to see more. And after seeing the weapons of the Spartans in action, had had to admit that getting the chance to use weapons like those were very tempting for him to say the very least. Infantry portable energy weapons, were considered impossible, even by the Quarians so seeing the footage of the Spartans using energy weapons like they were common place gear was something that got his interest.

And even the Marines in his outfit were curious about getting the chance to test them out as well showing that they were all very eager to see if they could be useful against the Geth. He however was already informed by the Spartans of the rules on the ship and why they were not going to get access to the critical areas of the ship as well as the technology until they were seen as being the trust worthy type of people. He was not offended as he knew that with the kind of technology they had, the Spartans and their A.I companion were being cautious and careful about it.

Still, he hoped to get a chance to see them in action soon enough, the chance to play with new weapons interested Marines, and it mattered little if they were from various races. And he hoped that they were going to get first crack on testing them on the many enemies that the Migrant Fleet was going to be dealing with.

…

It was not long before the Spartans and Cortana were able to find a viable world after three weeks of travel…and thankfully the world that they picked was not too far off the mark. It was uninhabited and also happened to be in an area that was too hot for the Alliance and the Council to be setting up in. The planet was known as Virmire, and was in the border of the Terminus Systems. The fact that it was near the Terminus Systems meant that both the Citadel and the Council had no force there and neither did the races that inhabited the systems had the resources or manpower needed to colonize the world in question. The world was a lush world with tropical areas and would serve to test the weapons and vehicles in a tropical world.

Normally such tests would have been done on Reach and in truth Reach was a far better choice due to the various environments that were found there. But that was out of the question due to the fact that with the Quarians being part of the crew, they had to make sure that the location was not seen by the Fleet to keep the location a secret until they were on more stable and fully allied terms. As the Spartans looked over Virmire, they made sure that they looked for any possible areas that were inhabited by sentient races to make sure that they did not get surprised or suddenly caught off guard and so had gathered the whole topographical data and layout of the planet and they had plans to test the vehicles and weapons out in areas where they were going to get what they considered as optimal results..

Already Cortana had developed two new designs for small arms using their technology and a fusion of the technology of this universe. The new weapons were the Gladius Shotgun that was able to fire magnetically sealed plasma spheres, the next was the Wakizashi Laser Pistol, and the last being the Sai Laser SMG. These new weapons were like the Sarissa and the Arbalest and had the same technology that allowed them to be folded and carried easily with the SMG on the left thigh region. They too were going to get the chance to be fully tested.

The Quarians were naturally surprised when they were introduced to the vehicles and they were very curious to see just what these unknown vehicles could do. They were not the only ones who were doing that as the representatives of the Alliance and the Citadel were also eager to see just what these new vehicles could do, and if they could match up with the technology that was already being used in their reality.

…

On Virmire…

Darrel was currently in the new Grizzly model and tracking the specially made target which was a large rock that was held on a large antigravity sled and was being blocked by what would be a Kinetic Barrier. The Alliance Marine managed to lock in on the target and as soon as he was given the all clear…fired the gun.

BOOM! BOOM!

Both Gauss Cannons were unleashed in mere moments on one another and the sounds of the Gauss Rounds tearing through the air was like a sonic boom at two hundred going off. The rounds glowed deep blue as the energy and friction generated a plasma plume that literally fired up the night. The two slugs had little to no problem ripping through the large Kinetic barriers and turned the large boulder into a massive ruin. Nearly two thirds of the boulder was literally reduced to dust while the lower portions were broken into fragments in moments and fell apart.

As for the Alliance Marine, he was shaking his head at the results and mentally spoke to himself.

(I WANT ONE OF THESE.)

As he took off the visor that was needed for him to interface with the Grizzly's combat computer and opened the cockpit, he turned to see the others looking at him with Christie grinning from ear to ear as she spoke.

"How's your insides?"

"Man…I feel like I was in an explosion for a moment or two, then seeing those rounds do their thing…this might not be as fast as the Mako we use, but there's no way in heaven or hell I am going to want to be on the targeting sights of this monster."

Jai nodded as the Turian managed to close his mouth at the sight of the utterly demolished boulder. The second he saw it, he concluded this…Grizzly was not very agile and that was what counted in the Turian military, and it had a less than pleasing look and was not fast moving when Darrel ran through it's paces. But when it fired both those massive cannons, he changed his mind. The fact that it only required one to operate the whole tank was impressive to the Turian. When he learned that the UNSC's use of Neural Interface allowed a single man to work as driver, main gunner, and weapons support officer all at once in a tank like this one, he had to give them credit. The Turians' own armored corps still relied on their armor units being led by a commander, driver, and gunner for both the cannon and the Mass Accelerator weapons, and the same could be said for the Alliance. This system used by the UNSC actually freed away the armored vehicle operators and allowed more armored units to be deployed in the field and minimize casualties.

"Those are some really nasty guns, the fact that they don't overheat is impressive already."

Christie nodded at that.

"Yeah, anyway, I think we're supposed to be going for the shield tests right now, right?"

Darrel nodded and placed back on the visor as Christie, Jai, and Shanni got ready to use some of the weapons, Jai carried a standard UNSC SPNK Rocket Launcher with several packs worth of missiles for said weapon, while Christie was now getting ready on a Gauss Warthog's Gauss Cannon, and Shanni were given a Spartan Laser. All weapons were on high settings and therefore were on lethal mode.

The Spartan watching them was Jorge and he then contacted Darrel and spoke to the man calmly.

"You ready for the shield tests?"

"Yes I am, go for it."

Jorge nodded and hefted the Fuel Rod Cannon and gave the signal to the others with him, and the results were massive as lasers, missiles, gauss rounds, and plasma rounds were unleashed as the shields kicked in. The firing barrage of heavy anti vehicle weapons continued for a full ten minutes, which might sound short, but in a firefight would be like an eternity. Inside the tank, Darrel watched the shield gauge before him and saw that while the shield was decreasing, it was able to hold on for a while longer and he was amazed by the results. This much firepower hitting you at this level was more than enough to terrify any regular soldier but he was still able to sense that he was alive.

The firing lasted another five minutes until Jorge ordered the team to stop, and when they did, Darrel watched as the shield gauge fully charged itself in a few seconds and when he got out, he saw that all of the rounds did not even get close to the plating yet. And that made him comment again.

"I seriously want one of these."

Jorge laughed a bit and turned to Tali and her band of engineers and mechanics.

"All right Miss Tali, it's your move."

Tali nodded as she and her group checked out the tank and began to run diagnostic checks, this was not going to be the end of it as more stringent tests had to be run before more of the new Grizzly tanks were to be sent into the field if they were needed. Plus the data would help Cortana construct a new Scorpion model that would be cheaper than the Grizzly model that they were currently field testing.

On another side of the island that they were on, John was currently working on the new Warthog variants alongside Kal'Reegar, his fellow Quarian Marines, Selena, Tarrek, and Naisha, along with the newly added Arbalest, Sarissa, Sai, and Gladius infantry weapons. These were test models that had to be seen in the field of battle and already some new improvements had to be done soon. The working models has to be repaired due to exposure to sand, rocks, fresh and salt water, these did not sit too well with the Spartan as this revealed some flaws in the current weapons technology of this reality that they were in.

While remarkable and effective as they did not need to reload and only had to be cooled down before being fired again. The weapons technology had to be sealed to prevent environmental elements from getting into the more intricate and vulnerable parts of the weapon systems, something that the UNSC did not have to worry about, and neither did the Covenant since their weapons were well sealed and John knew that they were still able to function even after being dunked in deep water, sand, snow, and mud. The technology they had was still going to be tested and right now the Master Chief was working on the Warthogs.

They moved through their paces and at the moment he was working on the Warthog with the Heavy Laser with Kal'Reegar using the cannon. They moved through several obstacles and it was taking some effort for the head of the Quarian Marines to stay still on the vehicle itself. Once they got into the firing range, Kal'Reegar fired the cannon. The laser sliced through the targets like hot knife through butter as it were, some had holes in them while others had massive gouges that were glowing red hot from the impact of the weapons themselves. And like the test with the Grizzly prototype, the targets were three feet thick heavy stone with Kinetic Barriers set up to block them. The shields did little to stop the beams of energy as they carved the rock and melted through them or left massive cuts as well.

The Master Chief then stopped the Warthog and as soon as he did so, they decided to get to work on testing the new models as well as the copies of the Arbalest and the Sarissa and see how they would perform. Kal'Reegar and his Marines were going to test them and on none other than the very same Warthog that they were using earlier to see not only how the shields work, but also how the weapons would function in a full on combat situation which was certainly needed.

There were still going to be a lot of tests and retests that had to be done by the end of the time frame that they had to work with, but they were not going to stop either. The Quarian Marines were now testing a few of the units of the Arbalest, the Sarissa, the Sai, the Wakizashi, and the Gladius and so far they were quite surprised at the thought of using actual laser weapons. They were not the only ones as Naisha, and Tarrek were along for the ride as they too were testing the weapons. The surprise and interest of the non humans was understandable to John as there was no doubt in his mind that in this reality, no one would have attempted to use Mass Effect Technology in the way that would involve energy weapons.

…

While all this was going on, the Alliance and the Citadel were currently working on the data that they were able to get from their observers in recent months since posting them in the Dawn. And so far the data was very interesting indeed as there was a lot to discuss in more ways than one. The Alliance brass were still wishing to get a more serious chance to study the technology that was in the hands of the Spartans though Hackett and Anderson were not too happy with the idea, telling the others not to get any bright ideas until the Spartans and their A.I companion were willing to share of their own free will.

However, it did not mean that there was no one who had issues with the Spartans not being on the side of the Alliance. Hackett was aware that there were indeed people in the military and the Parliament that were eager to get them on their side and they were also beginning to question the validity of the Spartans remaining neutral from the Alliance at this point. They were not the only ones either as there were many civilians were questioning the choice of the Spartans to remain neutral despite being human. And already there were plenty of people who were making theories as to why the Spartans were taking such a stance of being independent, some were more positive and the others were far less so.

As for the Citadel media, there had been plenty of unrest on what was going with the Dawn, there were many members of the Citadel races who were wondering what the Council should do regarding the Spartans. Their technology was certainly unique and there were many people in various corporations who were trying their best to find out what they possibly could about the technologies under the Spartan's command. There were even some news groups that were commenting on the history of the UNSC and the reality where the Spartans came from. Some were more positive, stating that hearing about the UNSC's struggles to expand through the galaxy was impressive for a race that had no access to Prothean technology and data, developing the Slipspace Drive which was an excellent topic in many science shows as many scientists tried to come up with a possible answer to how Slipspace actually worked and how it could be possible for that sort of technology to be seen in the hands of the Citadel. Others who were on the positive side also admired the fact that despite all of their difficulties especially in the war with the Covenant, Humanity refused to back down and even managed to win in the end despite all that they had suffered. And there were even those who commented that the Spartans were highly impressive and had they been in the side of the Alliance or even the Citadel, they would make very valuable Spectres.

Naturally there were those who opposed the information, some called it hard to swallow and there were those who had an extreme dislike for humans that they called the humans of the UNSC primitive for still using antiquated technology. Others also stated that maybe the UNSC actually started the war, and they got what was coming to them. The Batarians were the most vocal as despite being no longer part of the Council, they were angry at the way the Spartans had been getting in their people's way as they believed that the Spartans' attacks on slavery rings was a blow against their cultural and racial rights.

All in all, just about everyone in the known Galaxy were getting more and more curious about the Spartans and what their presence could mean in the long run.

…

Of course…there were others who were reading the data as well…

…

In a hidden Cerberus Base…

The Illusive Man looked at all the data gathered on the Spartan and while he was not a man who was easily surprised or impressed, he was still able to show both. The files containing the data on the Spartan and this UNSC that he was part of were interesting. When he had gotten word of it months before, he dismissed it as Alliance propaganda, but now he was having a second thought on it. He knew that the Asari's racial ability to meld and see the memories of other races was not something that could be disputed, and even he knew that it was accurate. That was why reading all the data that had been gathered by their best agents in the Citadel and even in the Alliance was important.

And already his respect for the Spartans and this UNSC grew, along with his desire to at least establish contact with them. He doubted that it was going to be an easy thing, but the effort counted.

As he placed down the file, he took a good pull of his cigarette and looked at the images of the Spartans latest escapades, it had cost him the proverbial arm and leg to get this recorded data, but in his mind it was worth it.

Miranda came in and spoke.

"We have no word on the Spartans as of yet sir."

"That is to be expected I suppose, for men who are as big as Krogan and wearing armor like that, they are very hard to locate. Still, you have to consider how they are what they are…they might not agree to this…but they represent a side of Humanity that I think represents our group's goals and beliefs easily Miranda."

The woman turned and replied.

"How so?"

The man leaned forward and had an image of the Master Chief when he was in the Citadel and before the Council, he looked at the Spartan intently and answered his subordinate's question.

"In our reality as it were Miss Lawson, we reached the rest of the galaxy using Mass Relays, all of our current technology is based on caches of data and devices we gained from the Protheans. All of what Humanity here enjoys and honestly takes for granted came from reverse engineered Prothean technology. And let's not forget that all the other races both in the Terminus Systems and the Citadel systems, all based their work on Prothean technology and E-zero."

"Now in the case of the Spartans and their reality's own Humanity…they had none of that. They developed on their own terms, through trial and error, and no doubt through many failures and setbacks. But yet they were able to reach a level that is remarkable, they did not let failure stop them from trying and working hard to reach their goal. Keep in mind that while we no longer consider it important, the telephone was a milestone in communications but it was not invented overnight, Alexander Graham Bell was not basing his work on another person's blueprints or prototypes, but on his own terms and knowledge. He failed numerous times, but he continued and soon, he created the telephone that was a revolution in technology itself."

"Now while we do have a number of advantages over the UNSC in some cases…they far outstrip all races, even if they will not admit it. They may use antiquated projectile based ammunition and weapons, but our weapons have to be better maintained and cared for since they will break down faster, theirs is easy to mass produce and is reliable. They may not have Kinetic Barriers, but they were still able to prove that they were not to be underestimated in a fight, using tactics and strategies that have seen through hell and back. And while they do not have the racial abilities the other races have or Biotics as we know it, they were not going to let that stop them at all in the slightest. And here are their advantages over the other races, including us…"

The Illusive Man then brought in the data that they were able to get from the Alliance and the Citadel at great expense.

"These MAC Guns that do not rely on E-zero to function at all, with their standard MAC having the power to rival the Destiny Ascension and this…Super MAC that is more than able to slice through any Dreadnaught that are existing today as well as any ship behind it. Their Shield technology that not only blocks solid rounds…but energy weapons as well, no Kinetic Barrier we know of in existence can do that. The development of actual infantry portable Laser weapons which is considered as impossible here, but they were able to crack it. Their ship construction and designs, while mundane as they use Titanium are still very effective as in here, ships of massive sizes could be built in less time and expense. The development of highly portable nuclear weapons as well as working Gauss technology independent of and form of mass effect technology. And the three most important things I have been able to analyze myself…"

The last three images showed Cortana herself and then the second showed the Spartans in action, it had been a pain to acquire these images, records, and video clips. But in the mind of the Illusive Man, it was all worth it to highlight the power of human strength and will that was not constrained by anything.

"The development and construction of actual sentient that are truly loyal to Humanity, the Spartan II Program that created the illustrious Spartans themselves, and of course…this."

The last image was of the Slipspace Portal itself as the Dawn went through it.

"The device that they called the Slipspace Drive itself, the ability to cross the stars without relying on Mass Relays at all for anything…these technologies were all home grown Miranda, they did not copy these from Prothean blueprints or data caches, they developed it themselves. Granted their version was deemed inferior to the ones used by the Covenant and the Forerunners of their reality, but the fact that they developed it and the theory of Slipspace all on their own speaks volumes. All these developments allowed the UNSC to colonize a number of worlds which by all rights outstrips the Alliance and the Citadel as well as the Terminus Systems, giving them an economic and industrial power base that would have made what the Alliance and the Citadel have, even us as well, look like beggars. Add to that a military force with literally billions of soldiers, and massive fleets of warships that if they ever existed here in our own, the UNSC would have been a deadly force to reckon with. And even though they were not as powerful or numerous as their Covenant enemies or the Flood, this version of Humanity would have been a power house that no one could ignore or ever look down on."

Miranda had to admit that when seen in that point of view, the UNSC was certainly a powerful force in all respects.

"That's true."

"It's more than being true…now that I look at the data and what I have seen, I see their humanity as the kind ours should have been."

"Pardon sir?"

"They carved their own place in their galaxy Miranda, not with the aid of alien technology alone but with their own hands and their own technology and all of them were willing to fight to the death than surrender or bow down to another force. If it was not for the politics of the Citadel Council as well as their don't rock the boat mentality and that of the Alliance that mires itself in politics as well, then Humanity, our reality's Humanity and it's future would have been different. The UNSC's war with the Covenant and then the Flood to me is everything I have feared come to life Miranda, everything that I have spoken to every cell in Cerberus is proven true by the history of the UNSC. The UNSC in hindsight embodies Humanity's ability to grow stronger and better through hardship and conflict, something that might seem cruel to many, but we cannot deny history. The Turians had their Unification War, we had the First Contact War, and the Salarians had that League of One fiasco, and let's not forget the situation our people and the Alliance have with the Batarians."

"If the UNSC were able to accomplish all that with their own hands and survive such a brutal war where they were not only facing a technologically superior foe but were literally outnumbered eight to one, and rebuild…then I feel that the Alliance could indeed learn a thing or two from them. Humanity has great potential Miranda, and to me, considering everything we have learned thus far, we have lost sight of that fact. The UNSC apparently did not and they were able to make their own empire in the stars. Humanity holding eight hundred worlds Miranda…no one here in our own reality would have ever thought such a thing could ever happen except in movie vids and novels…but the UNSC did just that and on their own. And THAT is power Miranda, the power of Humanity itself, no matter how many times Humanity is knocked down, and suffers failure or defeat, they can still get up and keep on fighting and rise to greatness. They have had literally four hundred years to be at that level and yet despite the suffering, they continued to fight and grow stronger, that is why they are in my mind an ideal form of Humanity, they are never content with that they have or what they know, they strive harder for what is there and learn all they can. That is greatness."

The Illusive Man leaned back and Miranda was silent, taking in everything that she could and filing it away for later use. Once she did so moments later, she spoke to her superior in Cerberus.

"So what should we do about the Spartans?"

"We will still watch them Miranda, observe and learn all we can. And when we learn enough, we will try to get them on our side. But this time not with force, we must show to them that despite our tactics and history we share the goal of defending mankind. And if words are not enough, then we will do whatever we can to convince them."

"I understand, I take it there will come a time that I will speak to this Spartan myself?"

"I suppose there will be a time, but we must make sure it is Cerberus terms and not theirs, and I feel that no other person can do that, but you Miranda. If the time comes, let us hope that we can convince them that working with us for the defense of humanity is better than doing it alone…though that will not be easy considering how far they have gone."

The two then remained silent as they both looked at the files concerning the Spartans and the UNSC that they served with. There was a lot to learn and there was a lot for them all to consider and how those same things could possibly shape the entire galaxy. And then the Illusive Man spoke to Miranda.

"I feel that it is time also that we allow the UNSC's history to be told, I have no idea yet if the rest of Humanity knows about this, but it's time to show that if the UNSC could do all that without any aid from any support, then Humanity can at least do the same."

"The Alliance will not be too happy with that sir, remember what they did to your manifesto?"

"Yes, I have not forgotten, and I have no doubt that the Spartans know of it as well, but this time, I will make a new one."

"Sir?"

"I will Miranda…and whether they agree to it or not, the Spartans and the UNSC will be playing a part in it. They are the focus of Cerberus' efforts to show the galaxy that relying on the Council or the Alliance alone in these dark times can be a mistake. "

…

In the Citadel…

The Dawn was currently docked on the Citadel and the Spartans were currently moving their way to the Citadel, and while they only appeared on a few occasions, their arrival always sparked some reactions. People would stare at them and move out of the way, wary C-Sec officers would be looking at them and hoping that they were not there to cause any trouble again. Others would look at the Spartans and began to talk to themselves.

Jorge, Cortana, and John did not bother with those details as they were here to deal with more serious matters. Selena and Christie's warnings to them came true as the Council and the Alliance had requested, or rather demanded that they come to the Citadel concerning their actions in providing the Quarians with new ships and technology.

And that was why they were here and they already had some plans in mind.

As the Spartans walked into the Presidium, there were already rumors flying about concerning the sightings of the new ships that were in the use of the Quarians. They were able to overhear a pair of Turians talking to one another.

"Did you hear about the Quarians getting new ships?"

"Nothing new there, though I can bet those ships are second rate junk."

"No they're not, the ships are fresh out of the yard, but are nothing like the ships made by anyone, not even from the Terminus Systems! They're unlike any ship that anyone has ever seen before, the only ship that would be similar is the ship owned by the Spartans themselves."

"Those Krogan sized guys from another reality? You mean they actually GAVE the Quarians new ships?"

"Yes they did. And free of charge too!"

"By the Spirits…what were they thinking?"

The Turians were not the only ones that were talking about what they had done for the Quarians as humans, Asari, Turians, Salarians, Volus, Elcor, and a mixture of those races who were already talking about the news. Some had neutral things to say about the situation, some talked more positively about the situation of the Quarians, and the others were of the negative side of the conversation spectrum.

It was to be expected as many of the people were not too happy with the Quarians and while not everyone was hostile to the Quarians, many were not trusting of them as well. And those who were negative of the whole affair were now looking discretely at the two of them when they were spotted coming into the Citadel. None of the detractors were willing to interfere with them, but the MJOLNIR's scanners picked up the dirty looks and the negative comments all the same anyway.

The Spartans ignored that as they knew that they would have to deal with the Councilors first and then they were going to deal with the more serious detractors if they were willing to come forward to speak to them. So far, they were not being escorted by C-Sec and that was something of a good thing in the minds of the Spartans. That did not mean that they were not wary at all as they reached the elevator.

Once they were able to get to the elevator, they climbed up and John naturally placed his MA6A Gauss Assault Rifle on safety along with his M9 Laser SMGs as well. Jorge was not carrying any heavy weapons but he carried a BR56 HB SR Gauss Battle Rifle and also carried two M8 SMGs and all were on safety. The second they walked up to the area where the Councilors were waiting, there was a woman with a camera drone coming with them. Though they had no idea who that person was, the Spartans could not help but feel that this woman who was obviously a reporter wanted to speak to the two of them.

The woman walked up to them and that allowed the Master Chief, Jorge, and Cortana to see who she was. The woman had her dark black hair short and had light brown skin on her, she was not bad looking by most standard, but the Spartans felt that there was something that told them to be wary of her. She was wearing the clothing that was considered something of the norm and had some light Asari influence on it as well. As soon as she was before them she spoke.

"Greetings, you are the Spartans of the UNSC am I correct?"

John nodded and replied.

"We are, and you are you Miss?"

"I am Khalisah al-Jilani from Westerlund News, I was hoping to have a chance to interview you and your companions."

Unknown to her, Cortana was already accessing the files she had on the various news groups in the Alliance and also who were their top reporters. This was something that the A.I did every now and then to keep up with the civilian news apart from military intelligence to keep an eye on how the people of Earth were doing. And what she found out about al-Jilani was less then trust worthy and something that was not sitting well with the A.I.

"Miss al-Jilani happens to be the kind of person that we need to watch John. I did not find very good information pertaining to her."

"What do you mean?"

"She's the kind of person who seems to have a critical view of the Citadel Council and believes they see Humanity as a poor relation. That might have some level of truth, but the fact that she is relying on popular human opinion and is not adverse to twisting facts and words means that she is not the kind of person to trust. I get the feeling that she might be trying to paint you in a bad light."

"Care to explain that assumption?"

"Many of the people in Earth don't seem too happy with the idea of you, me and Jorge being independent and not on the side of the Alliance. There are people who feel that we should have joined the Alliance and are saying that you are afraid of the Council and that you and I are not living up to your pledge to defend mankind. The fact that we have more aliens than humans in our ship might be adding more fuel to the fire as we speak."

"That seems to be a lie."

"It is, and there are plenty of other conspiracy theories as well on that regard, and I have a feeling that Miss al-Jilani might try to use that as an angle on you."

"Suggestions?"

"I'm not too sure, one thing is for certain walking away is a bad idea, saying the wrong thing can be twisted around and used against us the very second we do it is another thing that is certain. So I suggest that we go diplomatic, I know it's not your strong point, but they said the pen is mightier than the sword, now's the right time to see if it holds water."

John nodded and since that conversation was done quickly and privately, al-Jilani was not aware of the whole event. He then replied to the reporter as he had plans to use this against her at some point in time.

"All Miss al-Jilani, go ahead."

The woman smiled and checked her camera drone and when she was sure that she was recording the whole situation, she began her interview.

"We recalled that you have taken an independent stance, why is that the case? As a protector of Humanity, shouldn't you be on the side of the Alliance and have their power on your side as well as the support of the people of this universe's humanity?"

John was quick to see that she was aiming for his loyalty to Humanity as well as his origins and he replied.

"Miss al-Jilani, I am not from this reality and as such, I am not a born native of Earth or any of the colonies of the Alliance. This naturally places me in a unique position that is not easy to deal with, but my duty is still there. And while I am not part of the Alliance, I have already shown that I am still following my pledge to defend Humanity, as the crews of the Alliance ships that had been attacked by Batarian extremists a few months before can attest to and saving the Alliance Marines led by Commander Caitlin Monroe when I first came here to this universe even if by rights I should not have can prove that I am following through with my pledge to defend Humanity."

Khalisah seemed to be a bit annoyed but placed that aside as she decided to go to the next question.

"I have heard that you have at least three members of the Alliance as observers on your ship the Dawn, and they are outnumbered by the presence of the observers of the Citadel and by a much larger contingent of Quarians. Isn't that a bit odd to allow only three Humans on a vessel that by definition a Human owned vessel and have them outnumbered by members of the Citadel races as well as a Non Council race? Is the Dawn and all the technology onboard being effectively passed to the Council?"

"No is it not, the representatives of the Alliance were the ones that have been chosen by the heads of the Systems Alliance High Command personally, and the third representative despite being a civilian is still very much part of the human delegation. The Systems Alliance still possess the authority to dispatch more observers to the Dawn and I am not going to stop them as long as these chosen observers have been personally screened by the Alliance leaders. If the Alliance deems it important to send more observers to me and my companions, then they can do so."

"No technology as of this time has been traded to the Alliance or the Citadel as there are still concerns that have to be ironed out and agreements that have to be made. What I can assure to the people of Earth is that if the time comes that technology from our reality can be traded, the Alliance will have equal access to the technology and will not be kept in the dark on what needs to be learned."

"I see…all right then, I have one more question."

John nodded and waited for the woman to fire her question today.

"We have received reports that you have constructed four very advanced and powerful ships and then gave those same ships to the Quarian Migrant Fleet. And what was the most surprising thing was that these ships were given to the Quarian people free of charge. Why would you hand over such advanced ships and technology to the Quarians like that? Wouldn't that be considered as a contradiction to your pervious statement?"

John mentally nodded at the slick way al-Jilani tried to use his previous answer against him and he decided to strike in a far different fashion.

"The ships that were given to the Quarians were given free of charge to the Quarians in order for us in the UNSC to develop ties with their people. This would also show that despite the fact that my fellow Spartan and I are from a different reality, we carry the universal trait of human generosity and kindness. The Quarians may have indeed created the Geth, but that was already centuries ago and their people have suffered long enough and their younger generations deserve to have a second chance to live and decide their fate. And to show that Human nobility is universal in all human beings no matter the differences is considered to be a positive trait that can help improve humanity's image to those around them. The technology on the four ships is advanced, of that there is no doubt, but like before, we have entered negotiations with the Quarians to trade some technology to gain their trust and the ships are the bridge in that regard."

"Also, since we are an independent force and by definition the Quarians are also independent of the Citadel and the Alliance, what transactions and agreements made by either of us is not under the watch of the Alliance and the Citadel. As it stands, we gain the expertise of the Quarians in term of their skills, knowledge, and talents, and they get ships that can help their people survive and defend themselves from aggressors as well as gain access to something new to help their people in the long run, and as such is a win-win situation for all involved. What they do with the ships is their concern. But for those who think that the Quarians might use this technology in a hostile manner, then it will be dealt with through diplomatic channels first and foremost."

The reporter was silent and that was when Jorge spoke as well.

"Now if you will excuse us Miss al-Jilani, we have a meeting to attend with the Councilors of the Citadel."

With that, both Spartans moved away and left the woman to look at them, and she was not pleased in the least as the two heard her comment.

"Great…all of that time and effort…"

Jorge then spoke to John privately.

"I get the feeling we have not seen the last of that woman Squad Leader."

"I know…I think I am going to need to down a good deal of water to wash all of that out of my mouth soon enough."

Jorge snickered at that and Cortana then spoke.

"You'll just have to wait in that regard Chief, we're about to be sent to the firing squad and this time there are three, or rather make that six people this time around, though at least some of them are not all that negative."

John wondered that Cortana meant by that statement but he didn't have to wait too long to get an answer to that particular question. As they climbed up, they were able to see not just the three Councilors nearby, but also Captain Anderson, Ambassador Udina, and Admiral Steven Hackett. And the looks from Valern and Udina told the Master Chief that as soon as he was there before them, things were going to get very vocal.

…

John realized that his thoughts on the matter turned out to be right on the money, the very second he was there before the Councilors, both Valern and Udina were going at it like Brutes going after the cooked carcass of a Thorn Beast. Naturally it was Valern who fired the very first salvo of questions on him of all people.

"We have received word of the four new ships you have built and personally gave to the Quarians Spartan, why in the name of the Spirits would you give those to them?"

Udina was not far behind either as he spoke next to the Spartan.

"That is also something of a concern to the Alliance as well, you can bet that a large portion of the people in the Alliance are demanding answers Spartan. Why would you give those ships to the Quarians and also free of charge no less?"

Valern then asked in a heated tone why such technology was now in the hands of the Quarians and what they had done to deserve to have access to such technology. Udina was also asking questions and for a brief moment, John wondered if the two had somehow covertly talked to one another just how they were going to do this to him of all people. He however remained silent for a moment longer until both of them calmed down somewhat.

He then spoke to the Council and the gathered people watching and listening.

"The decision to hand those ships you spoke of the Quarian Migrant Fleet was made with a great deal of consideration and was meant establish amicable relations with the Fleet and it's people. Keep in mind that it was only recently that we encountered the Quarians and learned of their situation."

Tevos then spoke.

"You realize of course that the Quarians created the Geth, and when the Geth rebelled, they lost their home world?"

"I am aware of that, I have read the Codex as well as spoke to the Quarians."

Mesu then spoke at this point.

"Then you are aware that their actions served as a reminder to those of this reality why should not be trusted or created either intentionally or accidentally. The rule of course will not apply to Cortana since she is different from the Geth in every possible respect. But still, what you have done has not gone by without a considerable deal of controversy."

John nodded and replied.

"That is true, I do not contest that, however I would like to point out that the Quarians have already endured what would be described as nomadic isolation. It has been at least a century or more since the Geth rebelled and they are essentially refugees. For the remainder of their existence after the Geth rebelled, they have been stuck in conditions that are not something no new generation should have to live with."

Valern then replied.

"Their…plight is not unknown to us, but they broke several Citadel laws against the creation of A.I. They were warned repeatedly of the dangers and yet they ignored it!"

Jorge then replied.

"You are mistaken Councilor, the Geth evolved in their own fashion unknown to the Quarians and when it became obvious, the Quarians had no idea what to do but try to stamp out Geth. The way I see it, the Quarians made a mistake and the Geth, being sentient now had by most definitions the right to defend themselves. You cannot expect a race that has gained sentience to just agree to be shut down like that, nor can you punish the Quarians for something that they had no idea was happening and had lost everything dear to them as well."

This caused some heavy discussion between the Council and it took some time before some semblance of order was finally restored in the Council chambers. It was here that Udina made his move once again.

"What you did is not entirely wrong, but the fact that you have willingly traded such technology to them without ascertaining what their intentions are is at fault! Who's to say that the Quarians would use those ships and that technology of theirs to cause possible damage as well as start fighting with the Geth once more which could spark a war, you cannot rule that out."

Cortana then spoke seriously as she appeared, this time in her full human form.

"What could the Quarians gain by using those ships for war? Granted the four ships can be deadly weapons, but they cannot afford a war. Their population cannot fully sustain itself and losing any of their ships is a death sentence to them, going to war will strain their supplies and resources to their limits. And considering the severely weakened state of their immune systems, they have to be very careful to avoid being injured or having their suits compromised. And let's not even try to guess the dangers their people face in child birth, they cannot overpopulate since their supplies, resources, and space would be severely strained, and yet they cannot afford to lose too many of their people for fear of dying out."

"We are not saying that we know the Quarians very well, there are no doubt some that want to go to war to reclaim what was once their home, others wish for peace though they would no doubt be a small minority as well as find a new world to live on. Other Quarians would also no doubt want to merely continue living despite their status. But despite all this, condemning and ostracizing their people for this long is a crime in itself, they have suffered for too long and have to live with the fact that many races brand them as thieves, liars, and vagrants."

Cortana glared at the people there darkly and then spoke.

"They are trying to survive and preserve their people, their culture…everything that makes them a race and a culture! They have as much right to live and any other race, and they too deserve to be given aid and respect. Make no mistake about my words, I am an A.I and I am proud of being one, and I know that their kind distrust any A.I but unlike the mad A.I that want to take organic life, I do not, I personally oversaw the construction of those vessels as well as supplying them with what was needed. Why do I do that for a race that despise me? I do it because I wanted to help them."

That was enough to silence the Council and the people there, it was unheard of for an A.I to passionately defend an organic race, especially a race with great distrust for A.I technology like the Quarians. John nodded as he had expected Cortana to do that, he then moved along with Jorge to be beside Cortana as he spoke.

"Besides, as an independent party, we are not subject to either the Council or Alliance laws, and in truth, neither are the Quarians. As such, what transactions we take are well within the bounds of our status as independent factions. However…"

Tevos then spoke at this.

"However what?"

"We have also decided to trade a portion of technology to the Citadel as well as the Alliance, these may not be ship, armor, or weapon technologies, but they are very useful and can be something that will provide both sides with equal advantages. If both the Citadel and the Alliance are willing to listen, we shall provide a good amount of data to explain what sort of technologies we are willing to trade with both sides."

That was enough to interest the Council as they decided to deliberate on what was going to be their answer to the offer. It was not long before the Spartans were going to get their answer to that question as the Council came back and it was Tevos who spoke for herself and the other members of the Citadel Council.

"This offer is unexpected, but while we are indeed interested in trading technology with the UNSC, we must at the very least allowed to know what sort of technologies it is you will be trading to us as well as the Systems Alliance."

John nodded and had the data transferred and present it to the Councilors as well as the Alliance representatives.

…

The Councilors of the Citadel along with Udina, Steven Hackett and Anderson were currently looking at some of the proposed technologies that the Spartans were planning to give both the Citadel and the Alliance. They were very curious just what was going to be the results of the technology that the UNSC was willing to give them. The list included something called photoreactive panels, improved coolants for ships, as well as two things known as Stealth Ablative Coating, and Texture Buffers. They had no idea what these were but it was Udina spoke to the Master Chief.

"Care to explain these technologies to us Spartan?"

"I will, the first technology in the list is a form of active stealth technology that was developed in the UNSC…"

Tevos then spoke with her eyes wide at this.

"Excuse me Spartan…but did you just say that this is active stealth technology?"

"That is correct Councilor Tevos, this was developed by the UNSC and was used in the fleet of ships that are known as the Prowlers which serve as the UNSC covert electronic intelligence gathering, recon work, and mine laying. They also were used in a type of Human body Armor that is known as SPI Armor or Semi Powered Infiltration Armor. The Armor is not as advanced as the Power Armor we Spartan IIs use, but it's less expensive and also is mass production friendly. The new versions of these panels have undergone a number of advanced retrofits and are a lot more effective and longer lasting as well. The Covenant use a more potent version of the stealth technology but it's hardly fool proof."

Udina was very curious about the implications of such a technology as Anderson was the one who voiced his very own thoughts.

"How do these panels work exactly?"

Cortana then smiled a bit and showed them an image of a certain lizard.

"For those of you already familiar with native Earth wildlife, this creature should be familiar, but to those who are not. this is a chameleon, this quaint creature has a number of unique abilities, but the most telling is it's ability to blend into the environment my mimicking the colors around it. The photoreactive panels work on the same principle as it has special micro-sensors all over it which will copy the environment around it and mimic it to hide the user. Granted that it does not fall in the more serious category of Active Stealth, and is in truth not as advanced as the Covenant's active camouflage technology as theirs can bend light and make a user much harder to detect but it is very effective when used in the right situation and in a location that helps bring out the full potential in it. It's weakness is that if it is overloaded, it needs time to recalibrate itself and get it's systems to return to optimal status. But the Covenant version of Stealth is flawed as well."

"Covenant Active Stealth used phased optic arrays that can bend light around the wearer to make it much harder to detect though it can be defeated. The system generates a great deal of heat, and as such, anyone armed with thermal sensors or goggles can see the user, along with certain atmospheric particles and talc powder that can foul it up by overloading it. Plus it is expensive to maintain so the photoreactive panels are a cheaper and yet effective replacement that we are willing to part with and hand over to the Council and the Alliance."

The Councilors were silent as they were still trying to understand the implications of such a technology being used. They were not the only ones as well as the members of the Systems Alliance were also beginning to see the implications of such a technology being offered to them as well. It was not long before the Turian Councilor was speaking next about the second technology item that was going to be handed to them.

Valern placed his talon on the pad that had the list of items.

"What about the coolant that you were able to list here?"

John was the one who was going to speak on that matter.

"The coolant we were giving is a UNSC grade coolant that has been in use for over four hundred years in the UNSC. This was developed and tested extensively by our scientists in order to deal with the heat generated not just by regular ship engines, but the Slipspace Drives as well. The coolant formula took at least a hundred years to make and it not only works in cooling ship engines, reactors, and the Slipspace Drives which naturally generates a lot of heat but also the MAC Guns on every ship that is in existence of the UNSC. The coolant we are giving has also been upgraded with the use of a Covenant coolant formula to make it a lot more effective. If used on your ships, it can be very useful in improving heat management rates for most ships that are already built. And from what we have been able to study, it can be a valuable system for all involved."

The Councilors as well as Udina, Anderson, and Hackett thought carefully about the possibility of the technology being used on their ships. The idea of using a coolant on their ships was not too new but they had a feeling that the coolant formula that was being offered to them was not going to be anything standard in the least. Still they were not going to just bite the bait just yet, they were still curious about the other technology that the Spartan was willing to trade to them.

Anderson looked at the item and spoke to John.

"And this next item?"

"It's a Stealth Ablative coating, also used on the Prowlers, it's based somewhat on the old B-2 Spirit Bomber's refractive paint skin, if you remember that technology of course."

Anderson nodded at that as he was a student of history.

"So this is a special type of coating that also allows for stealth?"

"Yes, but it's more of a passive stealth system instead of active stealth. It visually masks a ship due to the coloring, and also serves to deflect radar waves as well as most scanner systems. The older models underwent a number of retrofits in the war, but they do have weak points. The older models of the Stealth Ablative Coating have to specially maintained as well as undergoing routine repairs since a mismanaged repair job could result in the stealth systems being compromised. The new versions we have been working on have been improved to require less maintenance and repair though they work well with the fourth and last item, the Texture Buffers to maintain full system integrity."

Cortana then spoke gently to them.

"These technologies are no doubt new and radical so we would like to schedule a test in a few months time. We need however something from both the Council and Alliance."

That made the gathered leaders raise their eyebrows and it was Mesu and Hackett who spoke with the Salarian going first.

"What exactly do you need from the Council?"

"And what can you want from the Alliance?"

"Ships to serve as test beds for the technologies in question, they do not have to be cruisers for the time being, we will use Frigates for the purpose of the tests. One built by the Turian Hierarchy, one by the Salarian Union, one built by the Asari Republics, and one built by the Systems Alliance. All ships have to be built to the highest standard for all groups and be fully armed and stocked. This way we can find a way to make our technology compatible with the ones you use for these ships. There will be no crew and they have to be top of the line ships, not second hand ships since those second hand models will have inherent flaws which will in turn go against the new systems and therefore invalidates our efforts."

The Councilors were silent at this and they were considering what their options were on this situation, and seeing that there was something to gain and possibly nothing to lose, they agreed. John then gave them coordinates to the location that they needed to go. The instructions for the Frigates were simple, they were to go to the coordinates in the Argos Rho system and then leave the Frigates of any crew members while the crews of all four ships would ride in the cruisers and leave the area. Once that was done, the Spartans would move in and take the ships to a secure location and begin the testing.

It was a gamble, but the Councilors and the Alliance felt that it could be acceptable in this regard and with that being agreed upon, they replied that they will be sending the ships there to the coordinates given to them by the Spartan.

…

Five days later, a fleet of the Citadel arrived in the coordinates that were given to the Councilors by the Spartan along with a Systems Alliance Fleet. Once both fleets were there, they evacuated the crew and left in the cruisers that were along for the ride as it were. It took some time after the ships of both factions left, but it was here that the Dawn arrived and soon several Sentinels were deployed to scan the ships and search them for any tracking beacons or recording devices that were there. Once the outside was picked clean, the Spartans came onboard with the crew of their own ship and began a very thorough examination of the insides of the vessel as well as the systems and equipment. This took a few more hours and when they were satisfied that the ships were totally clean and were top of the line vessels as per their requests, they went to work. They then connected Cortana to the Frigates and also a few Quarians to handle the operations of the ship. In order for the ships to go to the key location was to have the Frigates latched on the Dawn itself and have them shielded by the Sentinels.

Once all of their work was done, the Spartans and their allies were now making their move and they were off to the secure and off the grid location to begin their work.

…

In a secure location beyond Alliance and Citadel space…

John walked over to Tali as the Quarian was helping coordinate the retrofits on the Turian cruiser, the Quarian engineer was deep in thought as well as coordinating her fellow Quarians that she did not notice the Spartan until she turned and saw him next to her. Naturally she jumped at the sudden appearance and swore.

"Kee'lah! Please don't do that! You startled me!"

John shook his head a bit and replied.

"Sorry about that, how is everything going?"

Tali recovered and then decided to give her report.

"It's going well enough Master Chief, though it will be a while before we can complete the installation of the coolant systems in the frigate. As far as I can figure, no one in the Council as tried using such systems yet. It's a first in every respect, and we still have the Salarian, Asari, and Human frigates to work with."

John nodded, it was indeed going to be a long run, but at least they were already going at the right direction at this point and time. At the moment, they were going to go all out and remove some built in features to make sure that there was room for the new features to be installed as well as remove systems that were no longer needed. And the technologies that were being kept were now to be updated to handle the new functions and systems that they were placing into them.

It was going to be a very long time before these new Frigates were done with their transformations into test beds for fusion technology. The Quarians were eager to work these technologies alongside the others as John had placed Tali as head of the program of changing the Frigates. The young Quarian was very surprised by that and smiled at the technical challenges that she was being given and she struck a friendship with Naisha, and Cortana was willing to help them out by explaining some of the aspects of the technology that they would be working with for the duration of the months that they would no doubt be using to do the work that was before them all. Kal'Reegar was also the one responsible for the defense of the area as well as the ships and working alongside Selena, Christie, Jai, and Tarrek who were also handling the security details.

…

Three months later…

The Citadel Councilors were currently onboard the Turian Cruiser known as the Pride of the Hierarchs and they were not alone as the Systems Alliance representatives were there with them as well. They were called in by the Dawn to go to a more covert meeting to see the Frigates in question. This was why they were not in the Destiny Ascension for this operation as taking the pride of the Citadel Fleet would have been a very dangerous game.

That was why the cruiser that they were on had a much larger defense contingent as there were Turian Marines, Asari Commandos, and even Salarian STG members on the ship. They were not alone in the cruiser in doing their duties as there was a fairly large squad of the Alliance's N7 Marines was present there as well to keep them safe though in this case, Anderson was carrying a pistol as well for his own protection and no doubt Hackett had a weapon on him as well.

It was not long before they were soon joined by the Dawn. They were soon contacted by the Spartans and they stated that they were going to board the cruiser so they could be there to show the results of the months of work that they were doing. The Councilors agreed and gave the order to the Turian Captain to green light the Spartans to board.

The Pelican Drop-ship came from the Dawn and after some deft maneuvering, the Spartans as well as the Asari Naisha, and the Quarian engineer Tali was onboard. As soon as they were onboard the Spartans were greeting the Councilors with Tevos being the spokesperson to the Spartans.

"Greetings to you Spartans, I suppose that we are now going to see the technologies that you have offered us before in action?"

"That is correct Councilor, but before we do, we would like to introduce the head engineers of the project. This is Naisha who's technological expertise is very valuable and also Tali who is the head engineer of the project and one of the representatives of her people on the Dawn."

The Councilors looked at Naisha and Tali and gave their acknowledgement as well as their own greetings, though the Turian Councilor was not the least bit pleased with seeing the Quarian. However Tali was not worried about that, she was proud of her work as she knew that right now, their project was about to be shown.

Mesu then spoke to the Spartans as well as he was rather eager to see these technologies in action and what it could mean for the galactic community as a whole.

"So when shall we see these ships in action?"

John nodded and replied.

"You will, have the cruiser attempt to locate the Frigates, if they can locate the Frigates then that will mean that the technology needs to be changed. But if they fail within the time frame of at least three hours, then you can be assured that the technologies are worth it and work to their natural specifications."

The Turian Captain was giving the Turian equivalent of a smirk and decided to see if these UNSC technologies were really to the task. This Turian cruiser had the finest sensors the Hierarchy could get on their ships so this should not take too long. He then replied to the Councilors to show that he was more than ready to take on this challenge.

"My crew and I are ready for the test Councilors, we'll find these Frigates soon enough."

…

The boast proved to be empty as it had been already an hour and forty minutes and still there was no sign of the ships in question. The Turian Captain attempted to comb the area with the scanners at maximum settings but so far nothing. It was getting taxing thus far. The Captain suggested that maybe the ships were not even there, but had that theory shot down when they got a communiqué that the ships they were looking for were indeed there.

John then gave the order for the crew of the Frigates to deactivate their Photoreactive Panels to make the situation easier. But even with that single stealth feature offline, the Turian crew of the bridge did not have any luck as they were still unable to locate the four Frigates that were the targets for this mock hunting operation. The time passed and already it had been two hours and half.

It was here that John allowed the ships to fire short bursts of electronic signatures and briefly the Turians could sense it, but even then they were not sure that if it was the genuine article or just background electrical discharges or from their own systems. Already the Turians, Salarians, and the Asari onboard who were the Councilor's security detail were talking about what they were witnessing before them. This went on for a while longer as the Spartans remained calm though Naisha was smiling and while no one could see into her face due to the mask, Tali was as well. Her work and that of her people was truly paying off and they were not the only ones as Cortana appeared and she was smiling at the whole situation that was playing out before all of them.

Tevos, Valern, and Mesu were confused as they tried to locate the four frigates on the scanners on the Council Cruiser that they were currently on alongside the Spartans as well as Udina, Anderson, and Admiral Hackett. They were not the only ones as the bridge crew members of the cruiser were also having a very hard time in trying to locate the frigates. Next to them all was the Master Chief, Jorge, Cortana, along with Naisha and Tali as both Asari and Quarian engineers were looking on, and smiling slightly at the fact that their creations were still able to avoid being detected. Once they hit the three hour time limit, the Turians on the ship's bridge gave up and shook their heads, not matter how hard they tried to calibrate the settings, they still could not find their targets. And that was obvious to the Turian Councilor as he was not too happy with how things were going, though he also has to admit that the fact that one of their own Frigates was out there was a source of pride for him. However he felt that now was the time for them stop playing these hide and seek games and find out just where those ships has indeed gone.

Valern turned and spoke to the Spartan.

"Where exactly are those ships Spartan? We've been scanning this area for at least three hours and we have not yet found them."

John nodded a bit.

"They are there, in fact, I believe Miss Tali can tell you where they are."

Valern turned and gave a glare at the young Quarian but Tali ignored it as she activated her omni-tool and spoke to her communicator.

"All right then, Linya, can you reveal the Turian frigate first?"

"I got you Tali, moving in now, tell the Council to be ready."

The Council and the Alliance members watched and looked on for a while longer and still saw nothing…that is until one of the crew members on the bridge spoke.

"I am picking up something…something faint."

The Turian Captain turned and spoke to his subordinate, an Asari who was the one manning the scanners.

"What is it?"

"It's very faint and my scanners are barely picking it up but I swear that I did not see it for three hours straight, something closing in towards the ship. It should be in visual range in a few minutes…but I still can't make out the exact ship profile from the scanners."

It was not long before the crew finally saw the contact, it was the Turian Frigate known as the Silver Talon…but it looked utterly different, it still had the predatory lines present in all Turian built warships but it was pure black. The sight of it utterly surprised the people inside with the exception of the Spartans, their A.I companion, and the two engineers who were part of the Dawn's crew as well as the engineers who had overseen the retrofitting of the vessels in question. And that was even more obvious as they were only able to see it once it was in visual range of everyone on the ship. They had not noticed it at all for the past three hours of observation and intense scanning, Mesu was the first to speak as the Salarian Councilor was impressed indeed.

"Remarkable…the ship avoided all sensory scans for three solid hours and is now right in front of us and we did not even notice it until now."

Jorge nodded and replied with a relaxed tone of voice.

"We installed the coolant as well as the Stealth Ablative Coating on the Silver Talon along with the Photoreactive Panels. All of that technology rolled into one form that is in sync with one another allowed the ship to remain in a very cool state as well as visually blend into the background of space as well as blend in visually. In fact, I can bet that if you look at it through your cruiser's thermal scanners, you would not find it, and couple that with the Photoreactive Panels and the Stealth Ablative Coating, it's…pardon the language, a pain in the ass to detect."

The Captain scanned the logs and he gave his agreement to Jorge's statement to the Councilors though he was still shocked at how close the ship was to them and he didn't see it for three hours straight.

"The Spartan is correct Councilors, we have not detected any thermal signatures normally given off by the Silver Talon. And all of our sensors were working at full power and efficiency yet we were not able to detect them."

Tevos was the next to speak, her question however was filled with awe at the results before her.

"How far was the Silver Talon from us?"

Tali then looked at her omni-tool and gave the information to the Asari Councilor as well as the others, and Tevos' eyes widened at the information.

"It was a mere one thousand kilometers from us?"

Tali nodded and replied.

"Yes, you were only able to see the Silver Talon because it moved closer until it was in visual range, and even then it proved very difficult to detect. My people and I labored well and ensured that the systems were performing up to the standard set to us by the Master Chief and Cortana so there is little reason for these results to have been faked. The other frigates, the Light of Ascension, the Excalibur, and the Shadow Edge were also in the same area but are at different ranges as well."

Naisha then replied.

"But that is not the only thing, with the Spartan's permission, we can begin showing the effects of the coolant in terms of weapon systems usage. I personally think this will be impressive for you all Councilors as well as that of the Alliance."

John nodded and Naisha gave the call.

In that moment, all four ships came to the fore and were now in the process of firing their weapons to show to the Council, they were soon shown images of the inside of the four vessels as the Quarian crewmembers who were manning the four frigates were there. John then spoke to them all.

"All right, fire off at least fourteen times, three second intervals each shot."

That got a reaction from the people inside the cruiser as the Councilors, the Alliance representatives, and the bridge crews looked at the Spartan in utter shock as Hackett spoke.

"You expect any ship to survive that much firing? They'll be cooked alive and the ships would melt at the heat!"

Tali turned to face Hackett and replied.

"We have been testing them before were presented these ships to you, and my people have done this before. Trust us, and trust the Chief as well, you will not be disappointed, I promise you."

The Councilors looked at the Spartan and so did Anderson, Udina, and Hackett and despite their own misgivings, they decided to watch. They had a feeling that they were going to see the last of the ships, and if they did, there was going to be some very serious repercussions for the Spartans in what they were trying to do, which to them all sounded like madness. However, they were about to see that they were wrong in that regard.

As the four frigates began to fire, they watched the temperature gauges in the images as well as the visual data on the ships as well. And to their shock as well as the bridge crew, the ships were able to fire at least five rounds in succession for at least the first few minutes, and yet there was no sign of massive heat buildup anywhere on the vessels, either inside the ships or outside of it.

"By the Spirits…how is that possible?"

One Turian bridge member was flabbergasted at the sight before her as all four ships were firing away and yet there was nothing registering in the thermal scanners. As the people watched, Cortana decided that it was now the right time to go all out as she contacted the ships.

"This is Cortana to all four frigates, begin evasion maneuvers and use ECMs at full power while maintaining the firing rate until the fourteen round mark."

THAT sounded like utter madness to the people in the cruiser as the ships began to move around at higher speed and maneuvering very quickly and they were seeing that the Quarians inside the vessels were using the ECM systems as well. Normally the massive heat build up would have been seen all over the ship, and the interior of the vessel by all rights should have been glowing hot already. But they were not seeing any of that happening at all as the ships were still going through their paces and already reaching the ten shot mark.

Anderson was wide eyed at this and spoke out.

"That is impressive indeed."

Hackett nodded in agreement as well at the results before him.

"That is an understatement Anderson, we are going to be remembering this for a very long time."

As soon as the ships finished their runs and the incoming data was shown to the Councilors as well as the Alliance representatives, they were impressed greatly. The frigates had been fighting in what they could easily see was a very pitched battle which should have resulted in the frigates being utterly turned into ruined hulks of slag and radiation from the intense heat build up. But even so, the end results before them were clear. The simulated battle lasted for a full ten minutes on full burn and there was no doubt that regular frigates would have never survived it at all.

Yet all four ships were showing no sign of damage at all and the crew were all alive and in good health. Valern was utterly silent and when he finally had the right state of mind to speak, his first question was about the coolant.

"That is how effective this coolant is?"

Cortana nodded and proceeded to show them a list of information and charts.

"Yes, we have analyzed the tests we performed before and determined that if used on the many classes of ships used by both the Citadel and the Alliance, this coolant will have many beneficial effects. The first is that it obviously increased the ability of your ship's Mass Accelerators to maintain a rate of fire that is by study at least a factor of five. In that sense, your ships can fire at a longer rate and not cause internal damage to the ship's frame and systems. The second is that it also allows ships a much higher rate of being able to make evasive maneuvers and as such, allow them a much better chance of fighting their enemies and escaping from pursuers. Third, it extends the operation windows of your ships' respective ECMs so they will last longer. Fourth is that it reduces the risk of intense heat buildup in every aspect of the ship and as such, prevents the chance of lives being lost through heat and internal ship damage. And fifth, and I think you will love this…it will allow your ships a form of passive thermal cloaking, as even without the Stealth Ablative Coating or the Photoreactive Panels, the coolant makes your ships much harder to detect if your enemy uses thermal sensors, allowing your ships to get into a more advantageous position in both ambush work and in attack formations until you decide to break cover."

Cortana smiled at the looks of her audience with the marked exception of her crew and then spoke once.

"And the most telling gift is that it prevents your ships from suffering intense heat damage, reducing the need to build new ships, replace burned and melted systems, components, engines…you name it. The coolant in this case allows you to save up to at least half or more of the regular maintenance costs for many ship types as they can operate longer and be able to survive longer. Granted you will spend more in retrofitting the current ships in service with the coolant systems and adapting them, but in the long run, your ships will last much longer than they normally would. The succeeding ships with the systems will then be a bit more expensive than the ones previously built, yet they will be able to operate much longer than others of their class."

"So in full retrospect, both the Alliance and the Citadel can benefit in the sense that you will no longer have to spend large amounts of credits in ship maintenance and repairs. This will allow you to free large amounts of credits for other critical needs and if you need to make new ships, you now save up on relying on a single system which you can upgrade in your own fashion instead of using too many other systems. This will no doubt save all of your sides a massive amount of money as well. This coolant is already going to be given to the Alliance and the Citadel so your sides both get the deals."

The assembled representatives were silent and then they asked to deliberate in private, but John and the others in the Dawn's crew already could guess the outcome. The idea of having ships that could have such advantages and not have to spend large amounts of credits on ship maintenance and repairs was not something that anyone could easily ignore or discount as foolishness. This would be a major boon on all fronts and being able to save what could be immense amounts of credits in maintaining fleets was also something that required a tremendous amount of time to think about.

It was not long for the people to make a decision and already the negotiations were underway. Naturally the Spartans explained that they had to choose carefully what technologies they would place on what ship class and size, with the coolant being the universal technology that would be placed into all ships of any class and size. They also made sure to point out that there will no doubt be some limitations and they were willing to allow the expertise of the Dawn's crew, along with the Quarians who helped develop the technology to be called upon to ensure that there would be less problems to deal with. Naturally the Spartans asked for a cut of the profits that no doubt would be made in the long run as the technologies they were giving was going to be very lucrative indeed. It was to be expected in the minds of the Councilors, what they did not expect was that the Spartans merely asked for a small ten percent of the overall profits, half of which went to them and the other half to the Quarians who would be able to use it on the Migrant Fleet.

This also took some very creative bartering and soon the price was agreed upon, and with that over, the Spartans allowed the Council to take the data along with their frigates if they desired them as test bed models for other ships. The Spartans then would be the ones to contact should there be any problems during the installation of the new technology into their ships. This was soon over as the Councilors left the area while the Alliance representatives remained behind. It was at this point that the three humans got to see their ship in action once again though this time, they were transferred to the Dawn along with the crew members of the UNSC ship to see the trials in a more serious setting.

And this time, the heavily modified System Alliance Frigate was allowed to use all of it's features in stealth mode and in combat in a series of trials. This Frigate was slightly different as it had all three stealth features on it and working in unison to make a near perfect stealth cloak, and it was also firing out it's rounds as well as it's torpedoes and the sight of weapons coming out from the very void of space was a very potent psychological edge.

…

As the three representatives of the System Alliance looked at the now fully invisible Systems Alliance frigate that they had loaned to the UNSC, they were utterly impressed with the technology that they were getting from the UNSC. So far the only way that they were even able to know that the ship was there to begin with was due to the advanced sensors of the Dawn and the fact that the Spartans had not made the ship totally invisible to them. Hackett turned to the Spartan and spoke to him.

"This is what you have been working with that Frigate you had asked from us?"

Jorge nodded in agreement and replied.

"Yes, we figured you will get to see just what the result would be if you were to combine the technologies we are giving you into one vessel. As you can see…that heavily altered frigate before you is now what one could consider as the epitome of a stealth vessel even if it is test bed platform and not a full fledged warship, wouldn't you agree Admiral Hackett?"

"I agree on that Warrant Officer Jorge, this kind of a vessel is very impressive indeed, it very well could become a valued addition to the Alliance Fleet and be used in a number of situations that will be very critical for the Alliance. This might even be the test-bed vehicle for what we might very well place into the Normandy."

Udina was smiling and not a fake smile, a genuine one though the Spartans had to admit that it seemed a bit…off to see the man smile. He then was deep in thought and spoke to the Spartans.

"This technology is truly useful, I have to admit that while I was hoping for more substantial technology, these are more than enough. The Alliance Navy will indeed make good use of these, that I can assure you, and no doubt this should quell those naysayers back home and make things lot less stressful around here."

Anderson nodded and replied.

"And since the Turians have access to the same technology, we should not have too many issues when we integrate the technologies we have now into the Normandy. For all we know, they might even be more effective when we test them."

Hackett nodded and replied.

"We will need to point out though that the rest of the Alliance will want to increase the number of people we have on your ship. I have no doubt that the Council will do the same thing so we might as well not disappoint them. Is that all right with you?"

The Spartans nodded and after some time, the Dawn, accompanied by the new Systems Alliance Stealth ship were heading back to Arcturus Station to show off the technology to the rest of the Alliance.

One thing was certain…this was going to have some very serious impact in the days to come…

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Now there we have the latest chapter, I hope that this is a good enough chapter to show that the story is far from over. The technology given by the Spartans might not be the kind of technology that most military hardliners would want, but they are still valuable. Now I am not an expert in the economics of the ME universe so I have no sure idea how much ships cost, so I have to make some adjustments and best estimations.

Here's an example, let's say a Frigate without regard who makes the Frigate costs, say, 100,000 credits, and costs at least half that to repair and maintain the ship. Now if you are able to take away a significant portion of costs, say, 3/4s of it due to the frigate's systems being kept in good operational condition as the coolant helps reduce the ship's heat generation as well as preserve the systems effectively, that is significant. So now you only have to spend at least 20,000 credits where in the past you had to spend 50,000 credits, that saves your credits in terms maintenance and repair costs as the ship lasts longer. And you have at least 30,000 credits left as spare funds.

Now if that is the result of having only one frigate with the coolant system, imagine what happens if a whole flotilla of frigates were armed with the coolant system. That flotilla now has a significantly reduced maintenance and repair costs so there is a good amount of money saved for the side that owned the Frigate flotilla in question.

This ensures that the credits that are saved can help either the Alliance or the Citadel in other matters and their ships can now fight longer, last longer, and cost less to repair and maintain. Add all of that, this kind of technology is more than enough to convince the Alliance and the Citadel that while they do not get access to ship designs, weapon and technology schematics from the UNSC, they get a very sweet deal.

And with the fact that the coolant places a passive thermal cloak on the ship that uses it, then couple it with the Stealth Ablative Coating, the Texture Buffers, and the Photoreactive Panels, these technologies are a massive boon to the two sides. Now if you are wondering if I am now overpowering the two sides, keep in mind that despite their advantages, these technologies are not perfect. The Stealth Ablative Coating has to be properly maintained and tested since it's stealth abilities can be compromised if not done right, the Photoreactive Panels can be damaged and lose their stealth properties if they are hit by high powered radiation waves as well as plasma discharges and have to reset in order to work again. And the Texture Buffers have to be tested carefully to make sure that they do not malfunction and compromise the whole system.

As for the coolant, if the formula is not done right, it cannot work the way that it is intended and can not counter the heat generated fast enough.

So in this case, the Alliance and the Citadel need to choose very carefully which of the technologies that they should install on their ships so they get the best out of the whole deal. Also if you are curious, and I know that you are, this technology will play a key role in the development of the Normandy. Since these stealth technologies given by the UNSC can actually be combined if done in a right fashion, you can bet your wallets that the Alliance will try to combine them into the Normandy.

And this will not be the only role the Spartans will play in helping the Citadel and the Alliance as there will be some behind the scenes work that will indeed have some very new changes.

And yes you can bet that these technologies will be present in the Normandy and that will mean that the best was to describe this Normandy is the Normandy Mark II. And just in advance for all the readers, yes the canon events of Mass Effect 2 will still happen but that is only because of the Collectors figuring out how to bypass the systems, but I can assure you that the second Cerberus Normandy will also be getting a makeover when they meet up with the Spartans soon.

…

The speech made by the Illusive Man on this chapter was developed using the suggestions given to me by fellow member Hang Tuah who has been a very vocal and supportive contributor of ideas and concepts to me since I started writing my Halo stories. I know that there might have been some alterations, but I felt that it was better that way so it would not stand out so much in the story. I could explain simply that while the ME universe can be seen as better in some technological areas compared to the Halo universe, the Halo universe has it's own advantages to beat the ME universe. And as such, I hope that the speech would illustrate that point well enough.

The vehicles, or at least some of them have now been tested though I have admit that I was constrained for time due to many family affairs I had to take part in so it might not have met the standard that I would normally set, but with all this happening, I have no choice in the matter. I can however make sure that I am able to keep the story flowing and try not to get too distracted by one too many things that can be a real pain in the neck for me and the readers as well.

I plan to have the Spartans go to Omega in the Terminus Systems due to a mission requirement that is going to bring them in contact with not just the Blue Suns, but Eclipse and the Blood Pack. They may have fought the two already, but not the Blood Pack and not on the three groups' own turf as it were. And yes, they will meet Aria and also deal with a number of issues there, and you can bet that by the time they are done, there's going to be a new rule on Omega.

'NEVER get in a Spartan's way.'

Fail to follow that rule and you will certainly not be living for much longer.

…

Scene in question…

Garka then spoke to the Spartans as they faced Aria in Afterlife.

"Then I toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock."

Normally that would have shown how serious Aria was to the more intelligent people who came to her, and intimidated the weaker willed ones. However, it seemed that the Batarian guard's choice of words had the opposite effect and Jorge turned and glared darkly at the male Batarian though he spoke jovially.

"You happen to be looking at two guys who can flip sixty six ton tanks with one hand and with both hands rip apart Turians, Humans, Salarians, Asari, and Batarians like they were tissue paper, and carry enough firepower to equal three fire teams worth of Marines. Not to mention we weigh at least one thousand and five hundred pounds in our armor. And you claim to be able to toss us out an airlock?"

Jorge then took of his helmet allowing his face to be seen by Aria and her guards but his face was in the mode which he used when killing his enemies. There was no warmth or kindness there, not even mercy or compassion , only the promise of a very violent death when he got a target in his sights. The look and aura of a trained and battled hardened killer and not someone one would try to annoy unless one was very skilled and well armed, or had a death wish.

"I'd love to see you try that Batarian."

…

See you soon!


	11. Trailer for next chapter

Story Trailer for Mass Effect Halo Spartan Dawn…

Greetings to all of you today and I have a message for all you.

My computer is currently being repaired so I am using a computer from a shop after having my lunch back home. This is not something I like since this makes me have a time limit for my writing so I am hoping that my PC will be fully operational soon and I can finally get back into writing my stories as well as other matters.

At any rate, I have begun to plan out more chapters for my stories and also to make sure that I will be able to keep the creative standard for all my stories when I finally get back into the creative streak, and I will admit that the time away from my PC has been a good thing since it helps me clear my head.

I am going to make sure to check my stories every now and then and when I am do get my computer back, I will be ready to go to work on the chapters. I am still waiting for good writers to take my challenge though so far there are not that many takers yet. I am not going to complain though since the challenge is a matter of choice to take.

This trailer is obviously for Mass Effect Halo Spartan Dawn so I can show you what I am going to be placing in once I am done updating my Naruto and non-Halo stories. This is still subject to some changes if I deem that changes are needed, but this is what I have in mind so I hope that it will be enough. As you recall, there is a mission that will involve John and Jorge, as well as Cortana going to Omega and you can bet that a lot of people in that place will be very curious on what the Spartans will be doing there in their nick of the galactic woods.

Of course, you can bet that something can and will eventually turn the mission into something that is going to be a REAL mess. And here we go, I hope that this is going to be worth the viewing.

And just so we're clear, John, Jorge, and Cortana's enemy list on Omega will include: Turians, Batarians, Asari, Salarians, Humans, Krogan, and Vorcha and since there will be a LOT of them, things will get REALLY messy.

…

Trailer…

John sighed a bit as he placed his MA8A ICWS Plasma Assault Rifle on his back and Jorge did the same thing with his Covenant Heavy Plasma Cannon being propped on a nearby crate and it was not alone as John's SRS 100A Gauss Sniper Rifle was now next to it, along with his other weapon, a recharging Spartan Laser. The mission was now over and they were going to send a message to Cortana who was currently onboard the Covenant Corvette and a fair distance away from Omega and had deployed a stealth comm. drone to talk to them as well as hack into the nearby Mass Relay to keep track of things.

"Cortana, the data has been retrieved, send word to Ambassador Udina, Captain Anderson, and Admiral Hackett that the data will be sent back to them once we get to Arcturus Station."

The A.I replied in a content tone to him.

"Sure thing Chief, I am still running some scans on the Mass Relay and that Omega 4 Relay, that latter Relay is very interesting."

"I'm sure…we're about to get moving once we catalogue the supplies here and the weapons we can take and use."

"Great, some of these Terminus Systems manufactured weapons can be fun to test, make sure to get some of their Armor designs to…"

John quickly stopped in speaking to Cortana and was surprised as she was not known to do that unless there was something that got her attention. Jorge himself was quickly at attention as he was connected with the same communications network as John and Cortana were. John then spoke to Cortana quickly to find out what was it that got her attention.

"Cortana, what is going on?"

Cortana was quick to reply.

"Chief…I just intercepted a burst communiqué from the Comm. buoy near the Relay. There seems to be a contract issued for you, me and Jorge on Omega."

"Really?"

"Yep, and it's a very hefty one to boot, I got this only moments ago so I can bet that this is the real thing. It looks like every mercenary outfit, thug, street gang, and freelancer has just gotten the contract as well. And right now, they are up in arms."

Jorge spoke next as he decided to get his main weapon warmed up and ready on the off chance that company was going to show up.

"Just how much is being placed on that contract for us and what's the rules on the contract?"

"The bounty's a full forty millions credits, ten of which is for you and John alive or dead and for your bodies to be intact if you both are killed if you can believe that, the other ten is for the technology we've got, and the rest is for me."

Jorge smirked a bit and replied.

"That much? We must be very popular around here."

John shook his head at that and focused on getting the salient details.

"How many takers for this contract are on Omega right now, Cortana?"

"Just about everyone with a gun and who know how to actually use it and shoot straight. There are at least over two dozen mercenary outfits, a hundred street gangs, just as many freelancers, a LOT of thugs, and a few other larger scale mercenary groups with the three largest the Blue Suns, the Eclipse, and the Blood Pack. I have managed to hack into the Omega's mainframe without alerting anyone and I count at least a full force of at least a thousand and five hundred signatures moving to your area of Omega."

"Are they fighting one another?"

"No, it looks like the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack are holding off to let the lesser groups go first, since they technically outnumber the others, they want to send them ahead and do the heavy work before they move in to finish us off to get the money. Looks like they are willing to work together for this contract and divide the money evenly, which by the way is a first since these three steer damn clear of one another like the plague."

Jorge then spoke next.

"Are any of Aria's men joining this little party by any chance Cortana?"

"Not at all, it seems that the Queen bee of this hive is telling her men and women to stay out of it, though she IS making sure to get a good seat in the process. I am picking her people working to connect the security feeds to our location for her to look at. Apparently she might not be interested in getting involved, but that does not mean that she is going to miss out on seeing the action."

"Typical…any idea who sent this contract on us Cortana?"

"It's still fairly fresh but well encrypted so who sent it was no slouch, it might take me a while to crack but I will find out soon enough. In the mean time I suggest you two get read for company, I am already picking the force heading your way, they also seem to be getting some heavier ordnance to boot."

"What do they have?"

"Mechs for the most part, even two gunships as well. They apparently are keeping those in reserve at the moment."

John sighed a bit and recalled a particular comment Kelly made in a previous battle.

"So it's one thousand five hundred mercs, thugs, street hoods, and more against the three of us? Piss poor odds for them then."

Jorge laughed a bit at that and replied.

"Yeah, maybe we should do those mercs a favor and fight with our eyes closed."

In all seriousness, John and Jorge decided to get ready for the battle, they were always taught to prepare for anything, and this was one such event. And besides that, their weapons were not the only weapons in the place they were in and this was a fairly defensible position. These mercs thought that since they were in their backyard, they had the advantage of the three of them.

They were about to prove them wrong.

…

The assembling mercenaries, freelancers, gang members and thugs were all very eager for the chance to get their hands on the MASSIVE bounty on the Spartans and their A.I companion. They had no idea who placed such a contract on only two people and an A.I, but they were not going to complain. Besides, they had the numbers and weapons advantage on their side, them, plus the mechs and the gunships, they were going to have this easy. The Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack were all willing to let the weaker groups do the dirty work and overwhelm the Spartans and they were going to see just how good these two men were when they had no other escape route as the leaders watched the progress through what their lower ranking officers were showing them. The fact that the communiqué was only moments old and the Spartans were on their own mission so they had the chance to catch them off guard.

They had NO idea what they were about to walk into as the Spartans were already aware of them and Cortana was already showing John and Jorge where they were and how many they were. She was also beginning to make her way into the mainframe of the station to access the still reserved mechs.

Omega's mercenary population was about to get a VERY bloody kick in the nuts in the next few minutes.

And Aria along with everyone of her group was about to get front-row seats to the blood bath.

…

There…I hope that this trailer while show that this story is far from dead and will be updated once my PC is back and working better.

See you all soon!


	12. New Allies and Data Retrieval

Mass Effect X Halo: Spartan Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own either Bioware or Bungie...

Chapter 8

New Allies and Data retrieval…

( ): Thoughts

…

Reach, CASTLE Base…

John moved through the corridors in the base that he called home back in his reality, in his hands was a Chatter Pad and he was cycling through the data pertaining to the latest batch of candidates that the Systems Alliance and the Citadel were soon going to send his way. These were the usual bunch of races he and the others were already familiar with though in this case, the Salarian Union leaders were now sending some of their STG fellows into the mix.

It was to be expected since the unveiling of the new technologies he was willing to give to the Alliance and the Citadel were too much for them to not watch over. And he knew that Reach was soon going to be a bit more crowded than usual. CASTLE base thankfully was more than able to house and room the new arrivals and for that he was very happy as he was not in the mood for such things. Though he naturally planned to keep a very close eye on the new arrivals since doing otherwise would have been a mistake that would stab him right in the neck.

For now, he busied himself looking at the representatives of the Council races…

…

The Turian Hierarchy were sending several representatives alongside a Spectre from their own race one the older members as well. This was the first Turian who's file he was about to look at as this…or rather she was the oldest of the Turian delegation, or as Turians get old.

Her name was Raynis' Tal Vandra or just Rayn as she prefer to be called, highly decorated war veteran and had taken part in numerous actions against pirates and slavers, but she had been part of an operation that prevented a massive rising of Krogan forces out in the borders of the Terminus Systems near the area of Council Space. It was known that while the Krogan were indeed beaten back in the aftermath of the Genophage being used on them in the Rebellions, there were still holdouts in some locations there and these were usually difficult to deal with. And since Krogan could live for centuries, it was not unheard of for still well armed and led units of the Krogan to stay hidden until they struck hard and brutally on their foes.

Rayn had been part of a Turian recon patrol force in that area when the Krogan attacked them, the Krogan apparently had managed to get a hand on some civilian trading ships that they retrofitted into suicide bombers, the attacks caught the force off guard and forced them to land. Rayn had been a Lieutenant at the time and it was she who managed to send out a communiqué before the ship crashed. There on the surface of the planet that they landed in, her crew mates were harassed constantly by the Krogan and despite their discipline and resolve, they had lost their Captain in the crash landing and their XO followed suit in the first few days of their stranding.

Rayn was elevated by protocol and managed to hold out against the Krogan until a Citadel relief force came, casualties were high for Rayn's forces, but she held on despite suffering the loss of several of her bone plates on her face from a grenade wound and a large gash on her side. There were losses in her crew as well, but they made it. The Krogan warlord was hunted down by Rayn and the reinforcements and dealt with though Rayn was forced to evacuate due to their lack of food and supplies which resulted in starvation due to not only the crash, but the fact that the Krogan and their employed Varren raided their food supplies, poisoning them or destroying them.

For her actions, she was promoted to Spectre status by the Council and she was well into being what would be in her sixties…making her not too old, and not too young. Her time as a Spectre was not as high profile as most as he had read thus far, but she was no rookie in doing what she can. She had not been part of what happened on Shanxi at the very least and was among the few Turians who had no negative opinion on the Alliance…unlike the one known as Saren who was so focused on painting Humanity as an inferior species and too eager for their own good.

That was one of the reasons why the Council recommended her to be the head of the new Turian group that would be with them. Saren might be their best agent, but they were not going to court a chance for an incident between him and the Spartans, which was all the better in his mind. If she was like Jai then he felt that they were going to do well together, though until she set foot here and he saw her in action, he was going to reserve judgment on the matter. He would have her work with Jai since the former Cabal officer had more experience with them than her.

The other Turians were an odd mix at the number of at least thirty, eight were former pilots for the Hierarchy, four were combat engineers, two were actually mess sergeants who were injured, three were mechanics, three were medical personnel, one was a quarter master, the other was a navigations officer and COM systems operator, and the last eight were combat personnel. They were going to be ready in a matter of days since they were all going to be briefed on what they were going to do once they were on the Dawn. That was something that he was thankful for as this time he did not have to work on one too many rules that he felt was not that needed anyway.

…

He then directed his attention to the new group of observers from the Asari Republics, and the good news for him as that since there was already an Asari Spectre with them, the Asari Republics did not need to send another in Selena's place. He had begun to trust the Asari Spectre well enough so having to re-establish a working relationship with a brand new Spectre and who was of unknown quality was the LAST thing he was in the mood for. That was something that Selena was happy for and so were the Councilors, namely Tevos.

He looked at the files to see that the Asari bunch would be a fairly sized group, at least twenty-six in all, four were scientists, two were medical personnel, two were trained as communications and systems operators, ten were Asari Huntresses/Commandos, two served in the cooking and custodian duties, and the last six were former pilots. All of them were already passing their Maiden Stage and one thing was certain in John's mind, if any of the UNSC personnel were on this ship, namely the men, they would take very KEEN interest in the Asari in question. He was going to have to make sure that things did not get to a point that the Dawn would be turned into a love boat, which was something that he did NOT need.

…

The next force to join them on Reach obviously came from the Salarian Union's representatives and they were certainly going to be a good deal of concern for him, Jorge, and Cortana. They had sent one of their people's own Spectres, to round things up as it were since he would now have an Asari and Turian Spectre on his ship. This time it was a male Salarian Spectre and a former Captain of the Special Tasks Group as well.

The Salarian's name Travros, the only name he was giving them since he was not keen on giving his full name due to cultural reasons. John did not mind that as the Salarians were recognized as one if not the most recognized races in terms of gathering and hiding intelligence in Citadel owned space. That and the fact that the STG served as the basis for the Citadel Spectres added to that and their races along with the Asari and eventually the Turians formed the core forces of the Spectres.

Travros was a decorated STG Captain who earned recognition for the fact that despite only a decade close to the end of his life, he continued to serve in the STG. He had helped counter several powerful raids by Krogan forces, and had prevented a number of high profile assassinations alongside his unit and had even helped in countering a high profile information attack by a collection of rogue elements within the Union itself by rogue members of government. That was more than enough to have him promoted into the Spectres despite the fact that considering his age and close calls, he was not going to be serving for long. The only Salarian he did not match in accomplishments in the STG was a younger but highly gifted Salarian named Mordin Solus.

In essence, Travros was a veteran soldier and Captain, plus despite already nearing the end of his life in some ways, was still ready to do his part. That level of dedication even at the nearing end of life won the Spartan's respect to a degree. That was why he agreed to take in the Spectre as someone with that record would be interesting to work with in the long run.

The other Salarians were younger and numbered a least around twenty four, four of them being scientists, four were pilots, two were medical professionals, three were engineers, and the rest were STG members with good records. All of the STG and the other Salarians had combat experience so John did not have to worry about that aspect of their lives for the time being.

…

He then directed his attention to the dossiers sent by the Systems Alliance and since there was no Human Spectre yet in existence, they did not have a Human Spectre watching them. The only leader or leaders for the Human delegation in that regard would have to be Christie and Darrell since they alone had more experience with him, Jorge, and Cortana. They did however have a sub leader in their team this time around and it was a man by the name of Ralph Morales.

Lieutenant Ralph Morales was trained as an Infiltrator and apparently had a number of missions under his belt in defending Alliance Colonies and had been one of the few who graduated from the Alliance's prestigious N7 Program though he did not have a lot of famous missions under his belt as well. He was born in one of the Colonies, Amaterasu as it was named and had fairly high marks. The reason he was selected to be part of the three Human leaders of their delegation was that he had been one of those who countered a rather determined assault of pirates on another colony of the Alliance.

He had gained a few wounds but managed to hold out for a while longer before reinforcements arrived in the form of an Alliance patrol fleet, forcing the pirates to leave. It was one of the many skirmishes that happened as the Alliance expanded it's holdings in the galaxy and for that he was promoted and despite his injuries, he recovered and continued to serve.

He was going to work alongside Christie and Darrell and so far, John could not find anything that would make him think that having him was a bad idea. The fact that he did not have any racial views on the other races, and even the Quarians was a good thing since he was not in the mood for friction to be between them and the others. The Spartan also was curious just how these Infiltrators were.

The rest of the Human delegation were numbered at least forty, with four being engineers, four were technicians, eight were pilots though not in the caliber of Joker, four were medical professionals, fourteen were soldiers of different skill sets with three being Sentinels, four were cooks, and the three were skilled communications and navigational instrument specialists, all in all a very well rounded bunch as far as he could see, and at least did not have any xenophobic tendencies, he was very picky about that requirement for the new observer teams and at least the Council agreed to that as well as Alliance High Command.

…

All of them were not going to be arriving though since they were still in the process of getting their papers arranged, their debriefs on what to do, and a lot more. For now they were pretty much on their own on Reach, though there was the fact that they were off to run some personal tests. The Quarians who were with them were currently on Reach and inhabiting a portion of CASTLE Base which was custom tailored for their people and unique biology.

After a while, he, Jorge, and Cortana agreed to allow the Quarians to land on Reach and the very second they guided them to the world, the Quarians were awed by the sight of Reach. That was to be expected since Reach was very much still uninhabited and was as pristine as it was when the UNSC in their reality found it years ago. Once they arrived in CASTLE Base, they had gotten the Quarians accustomed in the surface of the world They then told the Quarians that whilw this world was beautiful it was not yet a good place for them to reside, though a section of the base was conditioned to their unique biology and immune systems under consideration. That was well respected by Tali and Kal'Reegar as they were more than eager to rest here and look at the world before them all. Besides, they were not going to offend the Spartans for all that they had done for their people, it would be insulting and risky.

…

It was not long before they decided to take out the newly made Covenant Corvette instead of the Dawn. The Dawn was currently undergoing some routine maintenance and also was going to be tested for a number of new ideas that Cortana was developing while the Quarians were getting the chance to be out of the ship and get used to being on a world where they were welcomed. The Corvette had been repainted into the color of black which naturally was the Stealth Ablative Coating as well as the Texture Buffers and was now ready for operational use, and it would be something that they were going to use when it was available since despite the advantages it had over the current stealth systems, they could not install an active stealth generator on the Corvette.

Like before, it was the only ship under their use that had no shields, but it made up for that lack of shields with an improved alloy skin for defense and also having itself installed with a number of ECM systems alongside the installed Stealth features. The Corvette was also armed with improved weapons along with having a number of shields that could keep the areas from suffering exposure to vacuum in space itself. The Corvette was also given a new amount of internal upgrades, including a much larger armory for access to more unique weapons. The normal crews quarters were made to be more familiar and comforting to all human and humanoid species. That naturally meant removing certain places, like the methane gas quarters used by Grunts when they were on the ship, along with the installation of Sterile Field Generators.

The other reason apart from having the dawn undergo maintenance and used for another of Cortana's plans, at they were taking the Corvette was to not only field test the new features in it, but to also avoid overusing the Dawn since it would become too recognized already, even if their participation in galactic politics and events was fairly minimal. That and the fact that this ship would be useful in areas where subtlety was better than raw firepower meant that it should be used in the field. Sure the Dawn had features for that purpose, but the Dawn was an open combat vessel, unlike the lighter classes of UNSC Frigates, while the Corvette was more for small insertion missions and support in those same missions.

As they boarded the ship, they made sure to get some of the Huragok on the deck to help keep the ship operational and repaired. They also took the time to acquire a smaller Turian built Frigate ship they renamed the Legionary. Compared to the Covenant Corvette, most of the Frigates in this reality were utterly tiny so they were able to tether the ship to the Corvette. Even the UNSC Frigates, usually a class higher than Corvettes were usually outsized by the Covenant Corvette though since the Dawn was now the size of a Destroyer, it was a different story.

The Legionary would be their cover ship and while it had all the technology that any ship made in this reality was have, they did install it with the same features as any UNSC ship for protection during Slipspace, making the ONLY ship that could survive being in Slipspace without a Slipspace Drive and still possessing a Mass Effect Core. The ships would therefore be their proverbial shuttle to any place since they doubted that the airlocks for the Corvette were designed for this universe's airlocks.

…

As they powered up the systems of the Corvette, Cortana appeared at the nearby holo-tank and told them some news.

"I just got word that our Quarian allies have begun to get used to being in CASTLE Base and so far, they have not tried to access the restricted areas. Having Tali and Kal'Reegar in charge of the whole contingent was pretty much a good idea. They know the value of being on our good side and also they happen to be good people helps. So what's on the menu today?"

Jorge grinned a bit and replied.

"Not much really, time to check in and see just what is going on and hopefully get some more supplies for the new arrivals."

John nodded in agreement and he was also going to see just how the technology they had given the Alliance and the Citadel was being used. He also had a feeling that the chance to go to the Citadel was going to bring them into something interesting. He also had to admit that compared to the hectic and brutal cycle of life he and the others had in the war with the Covenant, the Insurrection, and the battles with the Flood, being this reality was more…peaceful. At times it was a bit disconcerting, as well as calming. Their research and development work was already bringing in some new changes that could make all the difference when they found a way to return home. That was a bonus and if they can find an analog to some of the things they discovered here in this reality in their own, then all the better.

E-zero was a very interesting substance and thus if they found something like this in their universe, there would be a lot of applications there for it.

…

In the Citadel…

Executor Pallin gave the Turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow as he looked at the Spartans moving down from the Legionary. He had heard that instead of their Trademark ride the Dawn, they were in a Turian Frigate so he was naturally confused on why they would take a ship like that. Then again, he did not want to try guessing but ask the men themselves. Their lack of appearing constantly in the Citadel was something of a relief for the Executor as he did not have to worry about news reports of them roughing up the low life he and his people had to deal with on a regular basis, since it would reflect badly on his job.

Still, when they were here, the Spartans were very much professional and straight to the point, and as such, did not want to stay too long in one place. Plus they did keep their promise not to cause any trouble unless they were attacked first. So he was thankful for that and respected their professionalism, as well as the fact that they were a neutral party and not like their fellow humans of the Alliance who at times might use those things as a way to cause trouble or get out of trouble..

As soon as they approached both John and Jorge saluted the Turian to show their respect to him since despite the fact he was not officially a military officer, C-Sec was more of a military force than a police force. Something they felt was definitely necessary when one considered the sheer size and scope of the place, along with the fact that it was the centre of Galactic economy, politics, and society.

Palin gave the Spartans the same salute out of respect as well and spoke to them.

"Nice to see you both again after a while, though I am confused as to why the sudden change in rides."

"Covert reasons for that one Executor Palin, and besides it's a ship we've been working on."

Palin wasn't all that sold but he decided to let it slide, still the ship was certainly interesting to look at. And he had a feeling that he was going to hear more of this ship in the future, good or bad was up to the men before him and the A.I.

"Okay, I'll leave it at that, C-Sec will lock it down and keep it from being bugged. Last thing I want is to have to deal with paper work concerning your ship when you found bugs like last time."

Jorge smirked at that behind his helmet and replied.

"No problems Executor."

…

Later…

In the Human embassy in the Citadel, Anderson was busy running through the data, Udina was currently on assignment elsewhere and was also busy negotiating a deal with the Turians pertaining to the enhancements to the joint project the Alliance and the Hierarchy were working on. But that was not the reason he was here, he had recently gotten word of an incident with one of the R&D facilities owned by the Alliance. When he saw the data, he frowned a great deal and decided that they should move quickly to stop the perpetrators of the incident in question. He then pitched an idea to Udina and Hackett and it did not take long for the two to green light it, all he needed now was the people in question to come here and…

He turned when the door opened and soon it seemed that the solution to this problem had just presented itself without him having to call them. John and Jorge faced the Captain of the Systems Alliance and saluted him without a single flaw in the salute.

Anderson returned the salute and spoke to the Spartans.

"Good to see that you both made it Chief, I know that this is not a good time, but I have something that I need to have ironed out that might call for your talents and your team."

That was quick to get the attention of John and Jorge as well as Cortana as both Spartans snapped to full attention as John spoke.

"What do you need from us sir?"

Anderson moved to a nearby desk and handed him a data-pad and John looked briefly as he got all the data in. He then directed his attention to Anderson.

"This was stolen not too recently Captain?"

"Yes, specifications on one of the new line of Cruisers the Alliance was working on, this was incorporating one of the new features we plan to have in the Normandy once the tests were green lighted by the Parliament back on Arcturus Station. That being a new stand alone cooling system dedicated solely for the ship's mass accelerators."

Jorge nodded at that as he gave his own thoughts.

"You were trying to develop a stand alone cooling system? That would allow the main cooling system to handle the other features of the ship's function in and out of combat and reduce the need for you to move coolant to the guns. Not a bad call to some degrees though it would be a bit more expensive. Not to mention it would have to mean refits into the super structure."

"True, but if it worked well enough, this would allow us to make the ships able to fight better since they have an independent means on how to keep from overheating. And as such, our ships would be able to function better in a fight since they have no need to divert resources and coolant. However, as you can guess, the theft of the data is a serious concern for the scientists."

Cortana then spoke next.

"Anything that can help us in the recovery mission you happen to be giving us Captain?"

"Yes, but it's not too good news. The group that committed the thefts were not given enough time to purge completely their destination from the computers. They were going to the Terminus Systems and to one place in particular. And that place is the only place that serves as a central government center in the Terminus Systems, and that is none other than Omega."

"Omega happens to the ONLY thing that resembles authority there in the Terminus Systems, as you can guess the rates of civil war and strife there are the only reason that they have not banded together to attack Citadel controlled space. But that also means that the chances of a diplomatic solution to the situation are very low indeed. They dislike the Citadel and since the majority of the residents on Omega happen to mercenaries, thugs, pirates, slavers, and whatnot, you can guess how they will respond to Alliance forces there."

Jorge then spoke calmly.

"Not to sound offensive or anything sir, but wouldn't the Alliance be deploying their own Black Ops units to recover the plans?"

Anderson nodded.

"We normally would, but right now our forces are focusing tracking down the security leak, and even though we can deploy a team into Omega, our current covert assets operating in or near the borders of the Terminus Systems are still pretty busy on their own ops that are just as important as of this time. There's also the fact that a good number of our N7 Personnel are doing their own ops in Alliance and Citadel Space. I talked it over with both Udina and Hackett and they agree with me on this matter, you, Jorge, and Cortana are able to handle this quite well due to your respective talents and at least this will allow us to focus our assets on fixing the problems in regards to security and preventing anyone else from getting their hands on what our R&D boys are working on."

John thought it over and replied.

"All right Captain, we'll handle it, we were planning at some point to see what Omega is like anyway. Anything else?"

Anderson nodded and took out an OSD.

"This is a specially encrypted OSD disk that you can store the data in when you get it back. I would recommend that you get whatever information you can from the leader of the terrorists as well. The fact it was an inside job is a serious concern so if he or she knows who was part of the whole affair then all the better though I can bet there is more than one. Take out the rest of the group and keep the leader alive. If not, then the data will have to do."

The Spartans saluted Captain Anderson and knew that they were going on an op. This was something that they had not expected, but were not prepared for. They already have a map pertaining to the Terminus Systems and knew just where Omega was. So now as much as they did not want to do this, they were going to the Terminus Systems.

…

As the Spartans left, they were unaware that they were being watched by a woman who by all rights would have been considered very attractive by any standards. But her attention was on the Spartans and it was not in a normal fashion. She watched them like a hawk and made sure to keep herself away from their sight as best she could. She knew of their abilities of course and was on the lookout for them.

Miranda Lawson knew it was a risk to do this, but the Illusive Man thought that it would be better that they did not send attack teams on the Spartans. The Spartans were not to be underestimated and their abilities, while not like her own in terms of Biotics were not to be looked down on and they were dangerous in the sense that there was no telling what sort of tech they had been upgraded with.

She sighed as she knew that she had been nearly caught flat footed, just like everyone there in the Citadel's Docking and Traffic prescient, they had been caught off guard by the arrival of the Legionary as it did not match ANY profile of any ship they knew of. It was only when she recalled the fact that they transmitted their recognition code that everyone knew that it was the Spartans coming into the Citadel and not some new alien race who might be hostile.

Her agent in the traffic section told her of their arrival and as such she was informed to watch them. She gave no orders to try and place bugs on the new ship since there was no telling if the Spartans had placed security systems. And of course that bloody way they vanished from sight also made placing bugs futile since they would no longer be able to track them once they entered Slipspace.

She looked at that carefully, taking in note of every detail that she could see of the Spartans and wondered just where they were heading. She had to hope that the other Cerberus cells could find out where they were being sent. .

…

In a hidden base…

"Have the Alliance sent their teams?"

"No sir, it seems that the Alliance are focusing on the matter of security leaks. They have just sent out the Spartans to do it."

"Really? Can you confirm this?"

"Yes sir, the bugs we left in the Human Embassy has confirmed that Anderson has called the Spartans to handle the mission as a favor for the Alliance."

"Hmmm…this is unexpected, but not unwelcomed…change the plans, have our agents in Omega keep their eye on the arrival of the Spartans."

"Orders concerning them sir?"

"Do not attempt to engage them, attacking them is off limits, record them and see what they can do there in Omega. This might prove to be a major advantage for our organization."

"Yes sir!"

"Hmmm…I was hoping for a recruitment drive to get new blood and allies who see the truth of things, but this is just as good or beter. Time for me to see just how capable the Spartans are."

…

Terminus Systems…

The Legionary soon came through the Slipspace Portal at least a fair distance from the area where Omega was known to be located. As soon as they were through, the Spartans and Cortana deployed the Sentinels to scan every inch of the ship to locate any bugs on them, still adhering to the guidelines of the Cole Protocol. They found none and soon headed towards the Station. And as soon as they were in hailing range, the Spartans who were in the Covenant Corvette's bridge got an incoming communiqué.

They looked to see a Turian with facial markings in black looking at them intensely and he spoke.

"Who the hell are you two?"

John and Jorge looked at the one greeting them and the larger Spartan replied in answer.

"We're to take care of some matters on Omega."

The Turian looked at them and replied in a slightly snide fashion.

"And what reason would the Spartans have for coming to Omega of all places?"

John sighed mentally and replied.

"We're here on a simple job that involves going to Omega, and that is it."

"Really? Why don't you…huh?"

The Turian turned a bit and tapped his head's left side, no doubt getting a message of sorts from a communications device. The Turian did not look all that pleased, that much the Spartans could see as they had learned enough to know Turian facial expressions, despite the presence of the bone plates. It was not long before the Turian spoke.

"Fine, you have clearance…though that ship of yours is not anything like your usual ship."

…

On Omega…

As soon as the Legionary docked on the station, Cortana opened the airlock doors and both John and Jorge came out and entered the corridors. Cortana naturally decided to make a copy of herself to remain in the Legionary for the moment while she stayed with the Spartans since there was no way to determine what they could encounter. That copy was also going to coordinate with Cortana as well as the other copy left behind in the drone that had been deployed from the Corvette which was hiding a safe distance away from Omega's sensor network to scan the area since this was their first time in the Terminus Systems. And as soon as the Spartans were clear and in the station, they were greeted by a trio of Batarians who were naturally armed, but they were not rising up their weapons just yet.

John and Jorge did not make a move either which was impressive as they were carrying some very interesting ordnance. John carried a MA8A ICWS Plasma Assault Rifle, a pair of Brute Spike Rifles on both thighs, a pair of Combat Knives, one on his back and the other on a shoulder sheath on his left shoulder in easy reach, and a SRS100A Gauss Sniper Rifle on his back. Granted it was a lot of ordnance for a simple recovery mission, but what they learned of Omega was more than enough to warrant going a bit overboard on the firepower.

Jorge carried a Covenant Plasma Heavy Assault Cannon in hand and also had a Spartan Laser on his back as well as a pair of Kukri Knives on his shoulder plates. These Knives were made from high quality Tungsten and laser sharpened to boot and on his thighs were a pair of M8S Gauss SMGs with full loads.

The weapons were not lost to the trio and they were very wary of the two men and the leader finally spoke.

"So you're the Spartans, Aria wants a word with you, head over to Afterlife."

John and Jorge looked at one another and John spoke to the Batarian.

"Why would she want a word with us?"

"Anyone and anything that comes to Omega goes to see Aria, she's the one running Omega and if you need something or need to find someone, you go her. So stop wasting time and get your armored asses to her!"

Jorge did not like that tone and hefted his Covenant Plasma Cannon and that action made the three jump back as he spoke.

"Is that a threat?"

The three Batarians swore a bit which did not escape the attention of both Spartans as John remained calm and did not draw a weapon quickly as he spoke evenly to the three Batarians.

"We'll see Aria on our own initiative so do not try to force us, it will NOT end well for you."

The trio got the message and left and that was enough for John to direct his attention to the rest of the station as he and Jorge moved forward. Cortana was already using her copy's connection to the station's network to fill them in on the details of the place. As soon as she was done with the workload she began to send them the diagrams and the data on the station. All the while they headed to Omega and naturally they were being given the eye by just about anyone and everyone who saw them.

Both ignored that and they moved on to take care of business, they already knew that Aria was the best source of information on their targets. That did not mean that they liked dealing with someone like her in the slightest. But as long as she was not going to come at them when they were not even her enemies yet, they were going to leave the matter be.

…

Afterlife…

The sights and sounds of Afterlife did not sit well with the two Spartans as it was too loud, too filled with light and their HUDs took a moment to adjust for the changes around them. Once these were cleared, the two saw the full nature of the bar. There were people everywhere, Turians, Batarians, Humans, Asari, Salarians, and more, many of them were dancing to the intense and deep music that was all over the place. The beats were definitely made to arouse the primal side of life, which naturally did not escape the notice of the two as they walked to where the people were.

Cortana had already provided them a picture of Aria and where to find her and as soon as they moved deeper into Afterlife's area, they spotted the Asari in question, looking at them as well. She appeared to most people as disinterested in the fact that two massive armored beings carrying one of the most advanced and exotic arsenals were in her territory, but the Spartans were not fooled and neither was Cortana. They could see that she was eyeing them warily and Cortana could already guess that the Asari nearby were possibly Asari huntresses who were the special body guards of said woman.

After all, who would suspect the drop dead gorgeous strippers were actually Aria's hand picked fighters and assassins?

As the pair moved up, they spotted the Turians and Batarian guards with openly displayed weapons tense up. They were being eyed by the bunch but they did not notice as they headed to meet Aria. As soon as they were there, they took stock of the human and alien patrons behind them briefly, seeing that they too were armed. One thing was certain to them, Aria took security seriously and they could not blame here.

The two Spartans looked at the Asari who controlled Omega as she turned to face them and give them a curious but relaxed look as she scanned both John and Jorge. They however were not going to relax as they knew that in hindsight, they were in the Spider Queen's web. But unlike most insects caught in said web, they were FAR from helpless.

"So, the much talked about Spartans decided to grace Omega with their presence! I have to say the last thing I expected was to see you two here."

John replied to that calmly.

"This isn't a social call."

Aria nodded and sat down on her chair and replied.

"I bet it's not. You two giants have quite the reputation around here, not very big, but big enough. Extremely advanced tech, weapons that just about anyone here would sell their own families off to get their hands on, shields and armor that would cost an entire government at least thrice their annual gross earnings to even comes close to making cheap imitations of. Owning a ship that can go anywhere within the galaxy without Relays, and fight most foes and carry the firepower of at least two or three Dreadnaughts. And of course…your rather interesting A.I partner, who I got to admit that compared to all the known around here, she's got more sass and skill. Not to mention a look which could warrant her a contract for extranet videos and more even if she is just an A.I."

Inside John's helmet, he heard Cortana snort in annoyance as she soon spoke.

"No way am I going to let myself be turned into some fool's fetish ideas."

Thankfully no one heard Cortana and she was happy not to reveal herself unless she had to. Aria then continued with the conversation as she knew that the sooner she did this, the faster the Spartans could leave the station. She knew that having the Spartans here in her station was not something she wanted. Most of the people in the Terminus Systems might want to get their hands on the tech the Spartans had and more, but she was in no mood to have her home and little kingdom be turned into a battle ground.

"Now then, what exactly dragged you and your partner all the way out here? You both should know that a lot of people here in the Terminus Systems don't like you. The Batarians in the Hegemony being the most common since you decimated a number of their ships."

Jorge spoke next.

"We're not here for them, a band of terrorists stole something from the Alliance and we're here to get said item back."

Aria raised an eyebrow at that, or what passed for an Asari raising her eyebrow.

"So you're here for the Alliance? Figured as much, fine, as long as you three don't cause too much trouble on my station, I don't have any problems with that. So who are you looking for?"

John gave the details and Aria spoke.

"That bunch eh? I know where they are, they took command of one of the unused sections of Omega and called it their own no less than three weeks ago. Only reason I did not have them kicked out for being asses right away is that they paid me a very tidy sum to take up residence. Right now they are still there so you don't have to look for them."

(The base is something of an amalgam of Mordin's level and Garrus's own. I'll describe it in detail later on.)

John and Jorge decided to go and do the job, and they were soon informed by Cortana that she had located the base that the terrorists were currently using. Once they were out of the club run by Aria, they soon began to go on foot from here. Their gear was not meant to be stored in the cars used by the people here and as such, it was going to be a long walk. Though they were more than willing to move faster, the two and their A.I companion decided to take their time and plan out their movements.

…

Later…

The twenty strong terrorist cell were currently taking it easy as their score had been good, striking back at the Alliance after their bowing down to the aliens of the Citadel for so long was something they all enjoyed. They were all members of the radical group known as Terra Firma, but their leader, former Alliance Major Francis Reed had done this after gaining aid to steal one of the Alliance's newest projects. Perhaps by doing this, they could show to the rest of Humanity that the Alliance was too weak and mired in red tape to really care for Humanity.

Right now however, he was hoping to finally leave this cesspit called Omega, it was the best place to go and their contacts had informed them of the place that would help them hide away. It galled him to have to pay that Asari Queen bitch Aria some of the hard earned money for the cause, but at least they were going to be watched by her and her goons.

They had at least six sentries outside of their base, two in each level into the main base itself so the rest of them could finally unwind and relax before moving out. As for him, he was happy to finally have a break and rested on the side listening to good music made by humans, not that crap the Citadel played in those lousy elevators, one the many banes of his career before leaving the Alliance in what would have called a leave of absence, but in reality had been the start of his plan to steal the designs and make the Alliance look weak and incompetent.

He knew that they were soon going to be visited by the Alliance and so he had plans to get ready to great the enemy before him. No matter who the Alliance sent his way, he was going to get rid of them. However, what he did not expect were the Spartans being deployed under the go ahead of the Alliance.

John moved silently as he could to one of the terrorists, he had observed the female moving in a set pattern and the same could be said for Jorge as both of them were using their Active Camouflage to close the gap. They soon parted from one another to get closer and soon made their move. John got behind his foe and quickly delivered a quick strike to the neck region while Jorge grabbed the head of his own target and gave it a quick twist. Both moves instantly killed the two and Cortana went to work as she hacked into the suit of John's target.

Her job was to create ghost images into the terrorists scanners to make it seem that their dead allies were still moving about. This would mean that the only way the truth would be revealed was if the bodies were seen physically. That was remedied by John and Jorge as they took the bodies and tossed them into a nearby sewer tunnel, but not before taking anything of value. That naturally meant credits and packets of data. Once they were done with their tasks, they moved on, quietly eliminating the guards on the outside, but also avoided killing too many, namely if they were getting closer to the compound itself.

They soon were guided by Cortana into the compound slowly and once they were in, they allowed the stealth modes to cool down while keeping out of sight. Once they were fully charged, the Spartans moved out. Quickly they killed a number of the still remaining guards by hand and soon located the leader, who had no idea that as he was about to leave his room, he was about to be hit hard.

Jorge stayed outside due to his size and the weapon that he carried would limit him as John quickly pushed with a quick strike on the face of the leader with the butt off his Gauss Sniper Rifle. The sound of broken bones, shattered teeth, and torn flesh was heard and the man dropped dead. John quickly grabbed the body and dragged it in before the blood flowed down on the ground. The Spartan soon looked at the area and soon spotted a computer terminal and he began to scan it with Cortana doing things her way. It was not long before she was in the system and sent him a message to take care of who was left among the terrorists. The Spartans soon went to work on that regard…unaware that at this very moment, someone in this sector of space decided to REALLY spike the drink.

…

In Afterlife…

Aria was busy watching the scenes before her, enjoying the sounds, sights, and the smells of Omega. It was her realm, her little web in the galaxy, here she was the queen spider and she was going to make sure everyone here knew it. So far she had not heard anything that could be of value to her so she decided to enjoy it before going to see her daughter to see how she was doing. However it was not going to be long before things went down hill as one of her underlings came in with a report.

"Aria, we got something you might want to see."

The Asari turned to the Turian who came in and took from him a data-pad. She looked the information over and soon she was surprised for a moment or two She placed the data-pad down and spoke to the Turian.

"How long ago was this Zelk?"

"Only half an hour old…and we're not the only ones who got it as well."

"Thought so, how many?"

"Just about every merc band here got the message Aira. What do you think?"

"Hmmm…no way am I getting involved yet, but this should be entertaining. Have the word sent to EVERYONE here under me to NOT get involved If anyone tries to counter that command I will flay them alive myself with either my hands or my Biotics! Understood?"

"Crystal Aria!"

"Good, get into the security networks, this night just got interesting. Time to see if these Spartans are all they are cracked up to be."

Aria had heard the stories already of the Spartans and wanted to see if it was indeed true, and now she was going to get her wish. And there was no doubt that the other forces in Omega were on the move soon.

…

Back in the base…

John sighed a bit as he placed his MA8A ICWS Plasma Assault Rifle on his back and Jorge did the same thing with his Covenant Heavy Plasma Cannon being propped on a nearby crate and it was not alone as John's SRS 100A Gauss Sniper Rifle was now next to it, along with his other weapon, a recharging Spartan Laser. The mission was now over and they were going to send a message to the copy of Cortana who was currently onboard the Covenant Corvette and a fair distance away from Omega and had deployed a stealth comm. drone to talk to them as well as hack into the nearby Mass Relay to keep track of things.

"Cortana, the data has been retrieved, send word to Ambassador Udina, Captain Anderson, and Admiral Hackett that the data will be sent back to them once we get to Arcturus Station."

The A.I replied in a content tone to him.

"Sure thing Chief, My copy is still running some scans on the Mass Relay and that Omega 4 Relay, that latter Relay is very interesting."

"I'm sure…we're about to get moving once we catalogue the supplies here and the weapons we can take and use."

"Great, some of these Terminus Systems manufactured weapons can be fun to test, make sure to get some of their Armor designs to…"

John quickly stopped in speaking to Cortana and was surprised as she was not known to do that unless there was something that got her attention. Jorge himself was quickly at attention as he was connected with the same communications network as John and Cortana were. John then spoke to Cortana quickly to find out what was it that got her attention.

"Cortana, what is going on?"

Cortana was quick to reply.

"Chief…I just intercepted a burst communiqué from the Comm. buoy near the Relay. There seems to be a contract issued for you, me and Jorge on Omega."

"Really?"

"Yep, and it's a very hefty one to boot, I got this only moments ago so I can bet that this is the real thing. It looks like every mercenary outfit, thug, street gang, and freelancer has just gotten the contract as well. And right now, they are up in arms."

Jorge spoke next as he decided to get his main weapon warmed up and ready on the off chance that company was going to show up.

"Just how much is being placed on that contract for us and what are the rules on the contract?"

"The bounty's a full forty millions credits, ten of which is for you and John alive or dead and for your bodies to be intact if you both are killed if you can believe that, the other ten is for the technology we've got, and the rest is for me."

Jorge smirked a bit and replied.

"That much? We must be very popular around here."

John shook his head at that and focused on getting the salient details.

"How many takers for this contract are on Omega right now, Cortana?"

"Just about everyone with a gun and who know how to actually use it and shoot straight. There are at least over two dozen mercenary outfits, a hundred street gangs, just as many freelancers, a LOT of thugs, and a few other larger scale mercenary groups with the three largest the Blue Suns, the Eclipse, and the Blood Pack. I have managed to hack into the Omega's mainframe without alerting anyone and I count at least a full force of at least a thousand and five hundred signatures moving to your area of Omega."

"Are they fighting one another?"

"No, it looks like the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack are holding off to let the lesser groups go first, since they technically outnumber the others, they want to send them ahead and do the heavy work before they move in to finish us off to get the money. Looks like they are willing to work together for this contract and divide the money evenly, which by the way is a first since these three steer damn clear of one another like the plague."

Jorge then spoke next.

"Are any of Aria's men joining this little party by any chance Cortana?"

"Not at all, it seems that the Queen bee of this hive is telling her men and women to stay out of it, though she IS making sure to get a good seat in the process. I am picking her people working to connect the security feeds to our location for her to look at. Apparently she might not be interested in getting involved, but that does not mean that she is going to miss out on seeing the action."

"Typical…any idea who sent this contract on us Cortana?"

"It's still fairly fresh but well encrypted so who sent it was no slouch, it might take me a while to crack but I will find out soon enough. In the mean time I suggest you two get read for company, I am already picking the force heading your way, they also seem to be getting some heavier ordnance to boot."

"What do they have?"

"Mechs for the most part, even two gunships as well. They apparently are keeping those in reserve at the moment."

John sighed a bit and recalled a particular comment Kelly made in a previous battle.

"So it's one thousand five hundred mercs, thugs, street hoods, and more against the three of us? Piss poor odds for them then."

Jorge laughed a bit at that and replied.

"Yeah, maybe we should do those mercs a favor and fight with our eyes closed."

In all seriousness, John and Jorge decided to get ready for the battle, they were always taught to prepare for anything, and this was one such event. And besides that, their weapons were not the only weapons in the place they were in and this was a fairly defensible position. These mercs thought that since they were in their backyard, they had the advantage of the three of them.

They were about to prove them wrong.

…

The assembling mercenaries, freelancers, gang members and thugs were all very eager for the chance to get their hands on the MASSIVE bounty on the Spartans and their A.I companion. They had no idea who placed such a contract on only two people and an A.I, but they were not going to complain. Besides, they had the numbers and weapons advantage on their side, them, plus the mechs and the gunships, they were going to have this easy. The Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack were all willing to let the weaker groups do the dirty work and overwhelm the Spartans and they were going to see just how good these two men were when they had no other escape route as the leaders watched the progress through what their lower ranking officers were showing them. The fact that the communiqué was only moments old and the Spartans were on their own mission so they had the chance to catch them off guard.

They had NO idea what they were about to walk into as the Spartans were already aware of them and Cortana was already showing John and Jorge where they were and how many they were. She was also beginning to make her way into the mainframe of the station to access the still reserved mechs Some she could not fully hack to avoid being discovered accidentally as she was not going to take chances. But she was also able to hack into the larger mechs as well. She was soon done and now she was ready.

Omega's mercenary population was about to get a VERY bloody kick in the nuts in the next few minutes.

And Aria along with everyone of her group was about to get front-row seats to the blood bath.

…

Author's notice:

Now that we got the warm-up out of the way, we can not get down to the REAL fight. Be prepared for the slaughter folks. Because this sector of this chapter is ALL combat and blood, hang on and I hope that I have not lost my touch when it comes to blood bath battle scenes.

Here we go!

…

The thugs that were moving through the tunnels to try and get the drop on the Spartans were unaware that there was someone who was watching them. Cortana looked at them all, seeing a mix of Humans, Batarians, and some Salarians and decided to remove them as she quickly accessed the tunnel's water pipes and quickly began to focus on heating the water to beyond the normal limits. Once the temperature was at the right level of pressure, she made her move as the lights in the tunnel went dead, leaving them in darkness.

The thugs milled around as they had not expected that and that was when the seals which were supposed to prevent over pressurization of the pipes gave way under Cortana's bypassing of the safety protocols. The pipes near them exploded like massive bombs and unleashed razor sharp shrapnel and super heated water and since the thugs could not see anything, they had no idea that the pipes around them had gone off.. Their shields were designed to handle high speed projectiles but not at a certain range and not of a certain size and a number of the thugs were torn to shreds by the large pieces of sharpened metal, others were impaled by the same metal pieces and the super heated water caused massive burns and immense pain along with increasing the overall agony of the open wounds.

Cortana was not yet done as she spotted a large number of low class mercs, Turians and some scattering of Asari moved nearby. Their movements were not unknown to her and she spotted a number of power linkage cables near the catwalk. She was quick to hack into the systems and just as the group moved to the middle of the catwalk, Cortana released the water mains overhead and soaked the whole group in water…just as she released the clamps holding the power conduits.

The group had little time to react as they were soon being electrocuted by the massive power arcs that fried them dead. Their armor was not meant to handle the kind of energy being pumped hard into them and it was more than obvious. They all dropped dead, electrocuted with enough voltage to light up at least two city blocks. Cortana then directed her attention to yet another bunch who were crossing a bridge nearby and there were some fans nearby to regulate air.

She decided to hack into them and soon removed the fans' safety systems and unleashed a massive blast of air that completely caught the mercs off guard and sent them screaming to their deaths off the bridge. And Cortana quickly shut down the fans as she then directed her attention to a second batch of mercs crossing through another room. She looked at her options and decided to play rougher.

She accessed the location they were in, a simple corridor and she soon located what appeared to be a large number of power cables held up by magnetic clamps along with some heavy steel girders also held by magnetic clamps. She soon dropped them and the only warning the mercs had was the sounds of bits of metal coming down and soon they screamed as that was covered by the metal girders smashing the area they were in. And the sounds of them being reduced to splattered meat were also muted by the very same sounds of metal ringing all over the place.

The A.I was having something of a field day as she kept track of the rest of the cannon fodder mercs. So far the reports of their little parties being silenced had convinced the mercenaries that taking shortcuts which she was watching was a bad idea since there was no telling if they were going to walk into a trap. She did all this to make sure that they were all funneled into a killing zone as they had little military training and while street fighting skills were useful, she knew that urban combat and asymmetrical warfare were part of the course.

She soon contacted John and Jorge.

…

"Their little recon groups are now out of the picture, not to mention it's confirmed them to take a more direct approach. I hope you two have the tables and cutlery set for our dinner guests."

Cortana quipped as she spoke to the Spartans who were getting themselves set for battle. The Spartans had gathered all the weapons and grenades of their foes and while Cortana was keeping track of the soon to be attacked mercenaries. As John and Jorge got into position, they readied their weapons with John arming his Gauss Sniper Rifle while Jorge readied his Plasma Cannon to unleash hell on the incoming attackers. They did not have to wait long before the first band of mercs came in through the opening, eight Humans with three Turians coming in with the Turians in the lead.

John took aim and fired at the lead Turian, the Gauss round literally tore his right arm clean off at the shoulder and buried itself into the chests of two humans behind the Turian. The Turian cried out in shock and pain and dropped to the ground and the others scattered to get out of the area. However, they were now in for hell, the first to die were the two Turians who were not aware that they had hit a near invisible trip wire that Jorge had set up. The weapon was a container filled with metal fillings and bits, and beneath were primed grenades held back by a triggering switch. The explosives were triggered and exploded. The nearest Turian lost both legs in the blast and a metallic disk the size of a quarter tore into the right eye and into the brain.

The other was badly cut up even though his armor held off the damage, but one larger spike of metal flew out and smashed into his mouth, killing him as it excited from the bad of his head. The surviving humans were also hit, their lower class armor protected some of their bodies, but the exposed parts were soon bloody and messed up. The attack forced the six humans to break cover, a rookie mistake that the Spartans exploited with ruthless precision. One got a plasma bolt right in the chest screaming in pain as his armor melted and his flesh incinerated on impact.

Another did not get to scream as the next round from John's Gauss Sniper Rifle tore his head off, the next, a female merc could only shoot back in panic and paid for her lack of focus as a plasma bolt incinerated her weapon and her arms along with it. She fell back screaming in pain at the ruined stumps of her arms. The three that remained were firing at the Spartans and the shields took the hits, the lower grade ammunition told John and Jorge that they were not really prepared for them and soon two got plasma bolts in the face by Jorge's cannon and the last got a Gauss round in the chest.

The Spartans soon turned to attack the next batch, a full group of humans and John quickly got out a Spike Grenade from his supply of grenades, the Spartan primed it and tossed it with all of his strength and the weapon was now sent flying towards the incoming mercs. They managed to see the weapon and moved back, and thought that it was useless as it stuck to the floor behind them. They were unaware of the Grenade's real power and paid for it dearly when it detonated behind them and they were in the lethal cone of destruction as spikes erupted and impaled them from behind.

The next bunch of mercs coming into the kill-zone comprised of Salarians and they were smart enough to move in teams of two with one covering the others in the group of ten. They soon came in and Jorge finally unleashed his own attack as he tossed a Plasma Grenade and soon it stuck to the lead Salarian due to the sheer amount of strength Jorge put into the throw. The Salarian screamed as the burning sensation came to him as the Grenade began to burn itself into his armor and his flesh. Some of the Salarians with him were smart enough to move away, but not the rest, two of them escaped while the others were bathed in a blinding light and a wall of super heated plasma consumed them all. The lead Salarian was reduced to fiery ball of charred flesh and armor while the others closest to him were killed instantly and the four outside of the weapon were critically injured and those who were barely alive as they sported horrific burns.

The two turned in horror but paid for their lack of focus as John's next Gauss round tore both their heads off. In plain view of the next bunch of attackers, at least three groups of mixed races, ranging from Humans, to Turians, Salarians, and even some Asari trying to make names for themselves. The groups were much larger, at least ten in all and hoped no doubt to storm the place in greater numbers to confuse the Spartans. A sound plan in hindsight as it allowed them to go in closer and have more firing angles. Jorge and John saw that and Jorge decided to even things up a little bit more as he grabbed from his side a Plasma Grenade and primed it, just as John took out a Flash Grenade.

Both Spartans aimed for the largest group and fired their new weapons, John tossed the Flash Grenade first and it exploded to blind and disorient the mercs. They did not wear much if any protection and thus they were a lot more vulnerable as the Plasma Grenade soon was sent flying and it fused directly on the chest of a female Human merc, she only screamed and ran in pain as the Plasma grenade fused into her flesh easily. And soon she was destroyed and had ran into a larger band of mercs, a team of Salarians and Turians.

All were killed instantly by the weapon's detonation and the Spartans turned to fight the others with their weapons, Jorge fired his Plasma Cannon, catching two Turians with the weapons fire, but one managed to crawl to the nearby pillar while screaming in pain. The reason was that his right leg was reduced to a ruined burning stump by the plasma, while two others were greeted by a Gauss Sniper rounds right in the head when they moved up.

John reloaded the Sniper Rifle, placed it on his back and switched to his Assault Rifle, firing plasma bolts to cover Jorge, who currently vented out the excess plasma that was building up in his cannon to prevent it from overheating and blowing up in his hands. John took to the field and aimed his Plasma Assault Rifle against the foes coming at him and Jorge. Two Turians were cut down by the plasma fire and the smell of burning ozone was joined by the smell of burning flesh and boiled blood of various races. John quickly turned a Salarian's chest into a charred mess as the alien merc fell back as another tried to stop him. But their basic rounds proved to ineffective against the shields of the MJOLNIR Mark X and John fired more plasma bolts with one hitting the other Salarian in the left thigh and head. That killed the Salarian easily and it was not long before John had to reload his weapon. This seemed to make two of the nearby mercs try to attack him.

The first to reach him was a Salarian who tried to smash the butt of his Rifle into the face of the Spartan. John responded by dodging the attack and landing a powerful kick to the chest of the Salarian that sent the alien flying back and John lashed out with a powerful strike of his Assault Rifle's butt stock into the face of a Human who tried to blind side him. The resulting blow caved in the merc's face and blood splashed on John's armor.

The man soon dropped to the ground his face caved in and bleeding hard as John quickly reloaded his weapon and ducked as Jorge came back out with his now cooled off Plasma Cannon and soon the last remaining mercs in the area were dropped down with plasma bolts and Jorge quickly gave a charging Turian coming at him with the intent to stab him in the back as the alien had managed to get closer a counter. He evaded the blade and slammed the cannon right into the crotch and fired the plasma point blank. The look of pain in the Turian's face was priceless as he dropped dead with a massive charred lower body from the plasma bolt that hit him square in the nuts.

John managed to dodge an incoming attack from a charging human using what appeared to be a Combat Knife and he responded ina bone crushing elbow strike right where the heart was, shattering the rib cage and causing the man drop dead he however grabbed the body and used it as a shield, allowing the shots from the surviving mercs to hit the dead human as he fired his Plasma Assault Rifle with one hand. The Spartan however was forced to drop his weapon as an attacker came at him and he had no time to turn.

This however, resulted in him taking out one of his Spike Rifles from his hip as he tossed the body aside and fired a spike at the back of the neck. This in turn cut through the dead human and the spike was driven into the throat of the attacker, a Salarian who gurgled in pain and shock as the still super heated spike boiled his life fluids and fry his flesh. Both bodies fell down as John quickly got his Assault Rifle into his hand and began to fire plasma bolts and Spiker rounds that tore into the remaining mercs and soon the survivors were dropping dead or were critically wounded and screaming in pain either from plasma burns or from super heated spikes burning their flesh and flash boiling their body fluids.

John and Jorge soon moved back, leaving the dead and the dying to allow the coming mercs to know just what was waiting for them if they continued with their attacks on them. The mercs who came in were allowed to see it and it served as John, Jorge, and Cortana intended as they could see the mercs and thugs, panicking at the sight of their former compatriots either dead or dying from injuries that none of them had ever seen before in their lives.

This served to weaken their morale, make them more prone to mistakes and also lose their cool, leaving them at the mercy of the Spartans who pounced on them hard and fast. The assembled humans, Turians, Salarians, and even a small scattering of Asari were cut down methodically by the two and Cortana did her part by taking down the mercs' communications by hacking into the omni-tools they had even made the devices malfunction to further ensure maximum chaos for the Spartans to unleash hell on their enemies quickly and efficiently and the results could not be denied in the slightest as the body count continued to rise for them all.

Soon it was not long before more of the mercs tried desperate gambles to kill the two armored super soldiers but their tactics only got them all killed as Plasma Bolts, Gauss Rounds, and Spiker Rounds were now flying all over the place. And all of that were enough in sending more of the assembled cannon fodder to drop dead or drop down screaming in pain at the injuries that they got from attacking the Spartans, others that did came close now were being cut apart by the Spartans in close combat mode, using ether their Gauss SMGs, Spikers, Combat Knives, or their limbs as well as their energy shields formed into larger hands or melee weapons. This naturally covered their armor in splashes of blood from Humans, Turians, Salarians, and the small band of unaffiliated Asari, and of course the entire area of the Spartans' defensive line was soon covered in pools of blood from all their enemies.

Soon the eight hundred strong cannon fodder mercenaries, thugs, gang members and more were reduced to only a handful of living bodies, and with John, Jorge, and Cortana methodically tracking and killing those still alive, that number dropped. The entire area was filled with blood and sometimes limbs and also bodies. The sickeningly sick smell of boiled blood, flesh and melted ceramics was everywhere and that also served to give the mercs a very good idea just what they had gotten themselves into. And the sight of the Spartans cutting down their fellow mercs like scythes through ripe wheat only added to the overall sight.

Now it was clear to the mercs that what they had heard about the Spartans were not the creations of people who wanted a quick credit.

And soon the mercs who were still alive, lost all taste for the credit bounty on the Spartans, their tech, and naturally their A.I ally. No amount of credits in their minds was worth being slaughtered by these people, no they were not people, they were really demons. So they just dropped everything but their weapons and ran, but the Spartans killed them quickly and only one managed to escape from them.

John however had begun to track this lone survivor with his Gauss Sniper Rifle.

…

Outside of the former terrorist base…

The leaders of the Blood Pack, the Blue Suns, and Eclipse were lounging a bit and they were waiting for the thugs, lower ranking merc outfits and the rest to take care of this problem. They had heard of the Spartans but none of them cared for the reputation of the Spartans. They were literally outnumbered by them all, and the mercs they sent ahead to soak up the fire should be enough to weaken the Spartans. This was going to be an easy payday in all of their minds.

THAT was soon going to change.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The assembled mercs turned to see one of the thugs running back and shooting his pistol back into the area and one of the Blue Suns moved forward and stopped him cold as he grabbed him by the neck.

"What the hell are you doing back here meat? Get back in there and get your payment!"

The man turned at them wild eyed and covered in gore as he actually shouted at the Blue Suns merc facing him.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE? NO AMOUNT OF MONEY IS WORTH BEING KILLED OFF BY THOSE ARMORED DEMONS FROM THE FUCKING VOID!"

"There's nearly eight hundred of you and only two of them and that AI of theirs! And you could not even best them?"

"THEY'RE ALL DEAD ALL SEVEN HUNDRED NINTY NINE OF US ARE DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? THEY. ARE. DEAD! THOSE GUYS ARE NOT HUMAN! THEY CUT US ALL DOWN LIKE WE WERE NOT EVEN THERE!"

The surprised the gathered mercs and soon the still raving thug shouted.

"NO WAY AM I GOING BACK THERE! YOU ALL CAN HAVE THE CREDS AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR ASSES FOR ALL I CARE!"

The man got free and ran…only for a Gauss round to come roaring out from the area he had just vacated. And right before the gathered Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack mercenaries, the last of the mercs sent ahead was literally cut in half. His lower body ran only a few more steps before falling down and his upper half fell to the ground with a sickening splat. The man coughed out some blood, and soon died quietly.

Soon a voice came on the speakers about the gathered mercs.

"Is that the best you got?"

It was an open insult to the mercs and they were ready to move. But they did adhere to the plan since the Blood Pack were to move in first. They all had wanted the honor and pleasure of killing the Spartans in a blood soaked battle to the death. The other mercs were none too pleased by this but decided to go ahead and let the blood lusting Krogan and their Vorcha and Varren pets have their go ahead.

The leader of the Blood Pack, a Krogan Battle Master who lead the younger Battle Masters by the name Raekis growled in pleasure as he boasted to the others.

"I am going to enjoy killing those Spartans! Let's see how they deal with REAL Krogan!"

The other Krogan roared in unison and soon they unleashed the Varren and the Vorcha with them charging from behind.. They felt that with true battle hardened Krogan and more, they were going to be the ones to end the Spartans once and for all. They had managed to gain access to the videos showing the Spartans in action and they were all eager to end the lives of the two. At the numbers of at least fifty Krogan with a small band of Battle Masters, a hundred Vorcha and fifty Varren, they were ready.

…

And so were the Spartans and their A.I partner…

"Who's coming in Cortana?"

"Hold on…yep, thought so, we got the Blood Pack coming in fellows, and judging the way their head honcho is acting, all eager to fight you both."

Jorge shrugged at that and replied while powering up his weapon.

"Well, saves us the expense of chasing them squad leader."

John shrugged as well and spoke once more to Cortana.

"Details?"

"Looks like they are moving out in formations like the old Covenant Lance or the Pack, little fellows up front and big ones in the rear, though the little ones under the Blood Pack are hardly little. We've got Varren and Vorcha along with a handful of Krogan the first two outnumber the last bunch. Varren would be close to attack dogs and are not to be underestimated since they can hit hard and move fast. The Vorcha are seen like Varren by the Krogan, only difference is that they are smart enough to use weapons and it's rumored that some might be Biotics as well.

"I scanned some of the Krogan and some of then show signs of Biotic energy emissions, no doubt they are the kind called Battle-Masters, same like that one we met back in the Citadel. That being the case, I recommend being careful with them as according to the Codex, the Krogan who have those abilities are usually made into their officers. However, judging but what I have read on the Blood Pack, they are more in line with the Brutes, get them mad enough, they lose it and become more predictable. They are still going to be dangerous to be sure, but still very much predictable."

John and Jorge nodded in agreement and began to plan their strategy while shifting through the weapons and gear of the mercs. Not to mention they also decided to look at the credits that they could find. There was not much to be sure, but every little bit helps in the long run. They did not find much and most of the guns were standard and sub standard so they decided to leave those alone and eliminate the last band of mercs left alive. But they did make sure to get the ones that look to be useful to them to conserve their supplies and weapons for now before switching to their more potent firepower.

Cortana soon worked on getting them ready as the Spartans got back into position. It was time to give the Blood Pack a well deserved kick in the nuts, or in the case of the Krogan, the quad.

…

As they moved in the Varren were deployed to different areas of the former Terrorist base to sniff out any area that the Spartans had not been able to trap. Cortana was well aware of what the Varren were used for and had already informed John and Jorge who were busy wiping out any of the still living mercs that had been sent before, resulting in some splattering of Human, Asari, Salarian and Turian blood on them as they soon focused on the Blood Pack. Their formation was with the Varren up front, the Vorcha coming in at the rear and the Krogan coming at the same time though the Krogan hanged back a bit more. Definitely they were moving in like a Lance or Pack .

In was not long before three of the Varren came into the kill zone, only this time, John and Jorge had moved back to allow the Blood Pack to move in deeper and allow them to see the bodies of the massacred mercs. They doubted that it was going to have an effect but no sense not trying. Some of the Varren did get distracted and paid for it as John, using one of the salvaged Assault Rifles began to fire at the Varren, killing one with precise shots to the eyes and two more the same way. The creatures roared as they spotted the Spartan and charged, only for Jorge to come in with two Assault Rifles in his hands and fired away. The weapons looked more like SMGs in the hands of the massive augmented human and to Jorge, they might as well have qualified as such. The first pack of Varren were cut down, until another pack, numbering at least six each came as John and Jorge.

One Varren tried to ram into John and take off his leg but John quickly kicked the creature aside with bone shattering force and the creature roared out as it felt it's ribs shatter as it was sent flying back into a nearby sign. It was shocked by high voltage and dropped down into being a smoking corpse. The next pair came at John once more but not before one got it's mouth full of the Assault Rifle and John fired the remaining shots before the weapon overheated and left the smoking weapon the creature's mouth. The other then got caught by the Spartan and he quickly brought it down to his knee, the sounds of shattering bones was heard to show that it's spine was now history.

Jorge fired his weapon to reduce one of the Varren into a smoking flesh pile while he quickly brought his fist into the face of a leaping Varren. The blow shattered the creature's jaw and Jorge finished off the creature with a quick stomp of his foot into the head of the creature. The massive Spartan also used his cannon's barrel as a club and smacked aside the last Varren coming at him. The creature roared but got a mouthful of plasma as a reward from the Spartan and it dropped dead with the smell of burning flesh in the air.

The Varren were soon moving to try and swarm the Spartans but they were not going to have easy time of it. John aimed quickly and fired another Gauss round, catching one of the Varren in mid leap and literally tore the creature in half and the round, being much larger quickly ripped into three more of the Varren and killed them. Three were cut down by the Plasma weapons fire of Jorge while one got kicked hard by Jorge when it got too close, caving in the creature's skull, splattering blood, flesh, and brain matter on the legs of the massive Spartan.

Soon weapons fire came to the Spartans, indicating that Vorcha were now in the field and attacking. Their weapons were not that effective, and no doubt was meant that way for the Vorcha to serve as distractions and attack dogs with guns. There were some however armed with Flame Throwers that were og great risk if left unattended. John quickly grabbed his Combat Knife as one Varren leaped from the side to try and tackle him. Only to have the Spartan drive the Knife with his Augmented strength into the lower jaw and literally disembowel the creature in flight. The creature roared out in absolute pain as it's blood and guts slipped out and covered John who knocked the corpse aside and then dodged the attempt of a Vorcha to try and attack him at close quarters, slicing off the head with the same Knife, the head fell off and soon the blood of the slain enemy spilled all over the Spartan as he placed aside his Sniper Rifle and used his Plasma Assault Rifle. The first Varren to attack Jorge was treated to a blast of plasma bolts into the face. It screamed in fury and changed, intent on tearing into Jorge in a suicidal charge, only to get a powerful fist to the jaw and was sent flying back with the unnatural angle of the neck showing that Jorge's blow snapped the creature's neck. A Vorcha tried to charge with a flamethrower but Jorge dodged the incoming blast and the Spartan took one of his SMGs and fired a blast into the Vorcha, the alien was torn up and when the body turned, Jorge quickly kicked the body and sent it flying into another pair of Vorcha.

Jorge soon fired a plasma bolt at the tank and the plasma quickly tore through the tank and it exploded, instantly covering the two with ignited fuel and the three were quickly incinerated and sent away as running corpses. The Spartan quickly turned as his shields flared up to take on the incoming rounds from several Vorcha which forced him to fire a burst of plasma into one shooter and sent that one crying in pain as the others roared and charged while shooting at the Spartan. Their overeager attacks cost them as Jorge quickly placed aside his weapon and charged at them with shocking speed in the eyes of the Vorcha. They had little to no warning as Jorge came in and took out both his Gauss SMGs and fired bursts into them with accurate short hits. The end result was both got hit by the slugs and were send down to the ground in bloody heaps. Jorge soon came over to their corpses and fired three rounds each into their heads to end them once and for all.

The massive Spartan soon got his weapon up and soon fired it into the aliens before placing it once more to the side and caught one Varren trying to leap at him, with the intent o bite his head off. Jorge grunted in annoyance and slammed the creature into the ground and slammed HARD his foot into the back. The sounds of shattered bone, pulped flesh, and organs are soon heard as the creature's blood and guts literally erupted from the mouth as Jorge snorted and replied.

"Stay down!"

…

John was soon being attacked by the Vorcha with three firing their weapons, unmindful of the fact that they were only wasting their rounds as their standard rounds did not have the power to harm the shields. One got a Plasma bolt to the face and it's head was consumed by the energy and the two carried on while one tried to attack with the butt of it's rifle, John dodged the attack and quickly smashed the butt of his own weapon into the knee. The sound of snapping bone was joined by ripping flesh as the shattered bone tore through the flesh and soon the bone was exposed. John quickly blasted the head of the screaming Vorcha, reducing the head into a burned mess. The Vorcha left alive was terrified and tried to turn around but that only allowed John to take the weapon discarded by the second Vorcha and fired the weapon until it overheated, and the Vorcha fell down with a myriad of smoking holes in the back.

The Vorcha and the Varren were now moving in at higher numbers and that made both John and Jorge move back a bit from their current defensive positions. But not before they tossed their fragmentation grenades. The explosions ripped into the charging Varren and the Vorcha and the Spartans managed to cut down more of the enemy, one Varren came at Jorge and the Spartan quickly blocked the maw of the creature with his own arm. The shields held the attack and Jorge quickly smashed the head of the Varren HARD on a nearby wall, crushing the skull and allowing blood and more to flow out and coat his armor. Another Vorcha, driven mad by bloodlust charged at John, intent to kill the armored foe, but John does not panic and quickly moves aside to land a powerful knee to the stomach of the alien and then delivering a powerful rifle butt strike to the face of the Vorcha, crushing the bones and allowing blood to splatter on the armor he had on.

More of the Vorcha charged in firing their weapons at the Spartans but since they were using standard weapons with regular rounds, only en masse fire was going to harm the shields of the Spartans' Mark X Armor, and even then it was not going to be easy as the Spartans continued to use cover, evasion, and more to close the gap. Three more Vorcha were cut down by Plasma fire from Jorge's massive weapon and two were instantly cut in half by John's Gauss Sniper Rifle. The also sought cover and soon the Krogan came into the field, these however were not Battle Masters but the regular Krogan and they charged in to try and slay the Spartans.

…

One of them charged, ignoring the blasts of Plasma from Jorge's Plasma Cannon to try and blast the large Spartan but Jorge did not relent and fired more precise blasts until the Krogan's legs were literally roasted off and Jorge quickly blasted the Krogan who was now on the ground in the face with his cannon. The Krogan got a face full of plasma as Jorge quickly moved aside and took out one of his Kukri Knives and avoided another Vorcha who came at him. He stabbed the creature and disemboweled it with a swift movement, spilling blood and guts from the alien to his armor. He then kicked the creature aside and introduced the weapon into the face of another Krogan who's throat was soon sliced open by the weapon. Jorge soon drove the blade into the brain of the Krogan and it died as the blade was buried deep into the skull. Jorge yanked it out, unmindful of the blood spilling from the head wound and the mouth.

John himself faced off with another Krogan and this one was not a Battle Master but fired several blasts from the Claymore shotgun it carried. John quickly got to cover and the Krogan roared once more, charging head on, unmindful for the fact that as he tied to turn, John had rolled forward, evading him and allowing John to unleash a full blast of his Plasma Assault rifle into the back of his armor. The shields did not hold for long and soon the ceramic plate was burned off and the flesh was exposed. The Krogan roared in pain and turned, intend of killing John…only to find the Plasma Assault Rifle aimed not at his face, but into his mouth. John fired three bursts into the Krogan's mouth and the Krogan was literally cooked inside his own body as the plasma boiled all his body fluids and fried his flesh instantly.

John soon got to using his Gauss Sniper Rifle once more, firing another lip into a pair of Vorcha who were being used as meat shields by one more Krogan. The weapon's round tore through the two of them and them punched a hole through the stomach of the Krogan behind them. The Krogan roared in pain and soon moved in to attack, knocking aside the now crippled Vorcha that were before it. John however was not going to waste time and knew that it was time to go close quarters as he placed aside the Sniper Rifle and he soon reached for his Spikers and charged in to take out the Krogan who roared and charged at him.

John dodged the incoming fire from the Krogan and quickly flipped over it, attempting to bear hug him and rip him apart. The Krogan looked up as best it could, and got shot in the face by the Spikers, the super heated tungsten carbide spikes burning the flesh and boiling the blood just as John landed and sweep kicked the Krogan to land face forward, driving the spikes in it's face into the Krogan.

Jorge was able to kill three more Vorcha while one Krogan came at the Spartan, roaring out in challenge as Jorge merely shrugged and fired. His shields took the hits but noted that the Krogan in this force appeared to be using Inferno rounds, unlike the Vorcha. John was soon aware of it as Jorge was as the massive Spartan dodged the incoming fire and quickly moved to fire another blast at the Krogan. But the weapon of the alien was soon consumed by the plasma and exploded in the hand of the alien as Jorge took the moment to toss another Napalm Grenade. The weapon slammed into the Krogan and soon it exploded, covering the Krogan in a sea of fire.

It was here that the Krogan Battle Masters came to the field and they made their presence know to the Spartans when they tossed several Warp Blasts at John and Jorge. Both Spartans saw the incoming attacks and moved to cover, foiling the Krogan Biotics' attempts to attack them. But this also allowed the more experienced Krogan to close the gap and go into close quarters battle with the Spartans. They were naturally uncaring for the slaughter of their other forces, only eager for the chance to kill the Spartans and ear the bounty.

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The Blood Pack Krogan Battle Masters charged at both Spartans and it was here that John and Jorge decided not to waste time playing around as they quickly placed their weapons down and got to the physical part of the fight as the other Krogan were coming up to the front behind their leaders, at least there appeared to be ten of the full fifty Krogan who were Battle Masters and the leader was there to guide the chaos.

John quickly stabbed the first Krogan Battle Master with his Combat Knife and the strength he had which was amplified allowed the knife to bite deeply into the flesh of the Krogan as John quickly kicked the legs out from underneath to send the Krogan to his knees as John moved behind him and brutally snapped the neck of the Krogan. Such a feat shocked the other Krogan as they had never seen anyone actually SNAP the neck of any of their race like it was nothing. Even more so when the slain Krogan was a Krogan Battle Master who was one of their best officers,.

John took advantage of their inaction as he quickly moved and knocked aside the weapon in the hands of one of the two Krogan and jammed a powerful head butt into the face of the Krogan, making him roar in surprise and pain, John then lunged upward with his regained knife and literally stabbed the Krogan in the mouth . The Knife went right through the back of the head of the Krogan as John then took out one of the Spikers on his thigh and jammed it into the face of the other Krogan, making him roar in pain as John kicked him hard in the crotch, making the massive alien wretch in pain.

Only to have John fire half a dozen super heated Tungsten carbide spikes into his face and eyes, reducing his face into a macabre pin cushion that was still steaming from the contact of his body fluids with the still super heated spikes. The Spartan turned and drove the Spiker's bayonets into the face of the next attacker, being a Vorcha interested in attacking him from behind. The creature got only it's head cut off by the tungsten blades and John quickly fired another spike into the face of another Vorcha attacker.

…

Jorge was not along as he own set of Krogan came at him with the intent of slaying him and adding his name to their kill list. That did not mean that Jorge was going to fold in the slightest though. The lead Krogan came as Jorge and the Spartan quickly ducked the incoming fists thrown at him, as well as charging head butt and shoulder charge as well. The massive Spartan quickly slammed a powerful kick into the chest of his attacker

The younger Krogan Battlemaster roared in challenge at Jorge as he taunted the massive Spartan while the others it commanded were at the rear.

"Is that the best you Spartans have? I am KROGAN! I can get from whatever you can throw at me!"

Jorge was not phased and beckoned to the Krogan to give him it's best shot, and the Krogan Battlemaster was more than willing to show it. The being tossed a Lift Biotic attack at Jorge, but the Spartan quickly avoided the attack and came at him the Krogan with a charge. That was soon met by the Krogan and they locked hands into one another as the Spartan quickly found out that the Krogan Battlemaster was not exaggerating or spouting nonsense as it did manage to hold him off. But that was only briefly as Jorge kneed the Krogan in the stomach and when the alien moved to one knee, the Spartan quickly drove an elbow strike to the top of the Krogan's head. The blow sent the Krogan reeling and Jorge quickly used the delay to his advantage as he slammed a knee strike to the face to send the Krogan back on his back.

Jorge roared as he grabbed the upper jaw of the Blood Pack Battle master he had knocked down and quickly used his strength to RIP the upper half of the Krogan's head off. That unleashed a massive spray of orange Krogan blood that flowed all over the place as the dark armored Krogan hit the ground and bled all over the place and a good portion of it landed on Jorge as he spoke to the downed foe.

"GET UP FROM THAT BASTARD!"

Jorge quickly tossed the now severed head of the Krogan Battle master into the face of one other Krogan and the armored alien recoiled at the grisly projectile. That was enough for Jorge to charge in and jam his Kukri Knife into the lower jaw of the Krogan and he quickly introduced one of his Gauss SMGs into the head and unleashed a hailstorm of Gauss rounds into the brain of the Krogan, his bone plates providing limited and now failed protection from the massive slugs, at least compared to the usual sized slugs found in SMGs using Mass Accelerator technology.

The Krogan dropped dead as the Vorcha came in with a pair of them armed with Flame Throwers. They were also supported by four more armed with Assault Rifles and it was a combined assault of fire and mass accelerator slugs that came to face both Spartans. Their shields flared as they quickly moved in for the proverbial kill despite the firepower being used on them. Jorge quickly charged in with his armor flaring along with John. Jorge smashed into two of the Vorcha and quickly jammed both M8S Gauss SMGs into their faces and literally reduced their heads into a fine bloody mist, before turning around and landing an bone crushing kick into the chest of the next Vorcha.

Which was followed by him slamming the same foot into the chest of the downed Vorcha for good measure to make sure it was dead. The Spartan soon turned to face another pair of Varren coming at him, but was a bit slow as one managed to tackle the Spartan with a leap and the next tried to rend off one of Jorge's legs. Not at an easy feat due to the shields Jorge had on him. He soon grabbed the jaws of the one trying to take his head off and quickly broke the creature's jaw before tossing it aside and grabbed the head of the other one trying to gnaw his leg off. He quickly grabbed the creature by the jaws and slammed his fist into the lower jaw, the sounds of bones snapping being heard as the Spartan tossed the creature aside. He lifted his weapon once more and turned to kick back the recovered Varren who tried to attack him, blasting it in the face with a Plasma Bolt.

…

The Blood Pack were doing all that they could to fight the Spartans, but Jorge and John were not going to make their attacks work the way they wanted. John quickly ducked into cover as some of the Blood Pack Vorcha came at him with rifles and he quickly switched to the Spikers and he then leaped backwards just as the Vorcha got over his cover, no doubt trying to swarm him close combat. That was a sound plan, but when John leaped back and readied the weapons, their act left them open.

The Spartan was in Spartan Time and quickly fired several spikes, the foot long super heated spikes came out and stabbed the Vorcha in the faces. That sent the Vorcha to their deaths and as John got up he charged and leaped over his cover and fired the rest of the Spikers' rounds, killing a pair of Varren as they now had spikes in their eyes. The Krogan before leading the bunch roared out in fury and blood lust and charged, no doubt planning to rip the Spartan apart with his hands.

John did not care as he fired his Spikers into the legs and sides, the creature came at him with a right hook, no doubt adrenaline and more flowing in him to keep him alive. The Spartan ducked and moved to the side and fired three more Spikes into his foe and then slashed with the blades, cutting into the exposed areas of the Krogan and soon he fired a spike right into the area where the hearts were located and the Spikes buried themselves deeply into the flesh. The Krogan's roar was cut short as John quickly landed a kick to the side and sent his foe flying into the nearby wall. The wall served to push the spikes deep into the flesh and pierced all the hearts at once while still super hot…killing the Krogan instantly.

Two more Krogan came at John, one armed with a Claymore Shotgun and the other armed with a Katana Shotgun. Both blasted at John as he placed the weapons aside and went for cover. Both came closer, only for John to leap out from cover and land hard into the shoulders of the one with Claymore. John quickly slammed his fist into the helmet, maxing out the strength in his suit and shattering the helmet before yanking out on of his Grenades and actually stuffed it into the mouth of the Krogan. He leaped off and landed before his shields were hit by the one armed with the Katana. The explosion from the grenade tore the first Krogan to bits internally and unleashed a gory display of innards and blood that caught the second Krogan by surprise, a fatal mistake as John quickly leaped through the blood to land a kick into the face, taking the charging Krogan off his feet as the Spartan quickly unleashed his Spikers and fired all the rounds into the face of the Krogan. The face armor was cracked from the blow and soon the Krogan only saw brief flashes of light from the barrels of the weapons and soon boiling pain and then merciful darkness.

John turned and quickly rolled aside as a Krogan Battle Master, a more seasoned one came at him and fired several Warp Blasts, John dodged some and quickly grabbed the leg of his recently slain opponent and use him as a thrown projectile. The Battle Master used his Warp to stop the body and tear it apart, uncaring for the dead Krogan tossed his way. John quickly moved back and reverted to using his Plasma Assault Rifle and fired the weapon as the Krogan who took the hits and roared in pain as the Kinetic barriers fell under the assault of the weapon and soon the armor melted from the heat. The Spartan quickly dodged another Warp thrown at him by going to cover and grabbing the discarded Claymore and quickly charged at high speed, catching the Krogan Battle Master off guard. The Blood Pack member managed to erect a barrier, but the Master Chief countered by using the shield manipulation ability to create a much larger blade that after focusing it's power, cut through the barrier and John quickly introduced the Claymore in the exposed chest of the Battle Master in point blank range and fired. The gore spray that followed covered the Spartan's armor easily as the next blast easily tore a hole through the Krogan, destroying all it's redundant organs.

…

Jorge was also reducing a number of the Varren and Vorcha with his Plasma Cannon, but he was forced to stop firing when one of the creatures tired to leap and bite him in the face. Jorge quickly moved aside and dropped an elbow on the head of the creature. The sounds of bones being crushed was more than enough to tell anyone that the larger Spartan reduced the skull into crushed eggshells. The next Varren coming at Jorge was given a mouth full of plasma as the Spartan managed to get the weapon's barrel in front of the open maw of the creature. That reduced the creature into a corpse as he also reduced three more Vorcha while moving back into cover as his Plasma Cannon is overheating. He switched to his M8S SMGs as he placed down his massive weapon and saw through his motion sensors incoming contacts. He quickly moved out and smashed a hard kick into the stomach of one Vorcha, making it bend over to receive a knee to the chin. The blow shattered the creature's jaw like it was cheap glass and the creature roared out with it's blood splattering on the armor as Jorge fired a barrage of Gauss Slugs into the face, sending more gore around as the headless Vorcha fell down.

The massive Spartan revealed his surprising agility as he quickly ducked from a Krogan attacking him with a clothesline and he responded with a nasty head butt that sent the creature back, only to receive a shattering kick to the nuts from Jorge and that was followed by him jamming both weapons into the open mouth and him firing the rounds into the open maw. Jorge soon placed the SMGs aside and grabbed the Krogan's Claymore Shotgun and fired it at three Vorcha who tried to attack Jorge and blew two in half in mid leap and ripping off the massive chunk of the third Vorcha which sent into the ground with the blood from all three splattering the Spartan's Armor. Jorge's leg was soon covered in the gore as he stomped on the still living Vorcha's head, killing it quickly.

The Spartan fired more into several surviving Varren, reducing the creatures to bloody smears until the weapon ran out of Heat Sinks and he tossed it aside with contempt and got his Plasma Cannon back and was ready to make the enemy scream in pain.

All in all the slaughter was immense and when the Spartans pulled back for more fighting room, the Krogan came in. All the while the Spartans were doing the leaf-frog backwards to let the Blood Pack get into position and allow them to kill them one at a time. Jorge covered John who had recovered his Gauss Sniper Rifle and then John covered Jorge when he moved into position. In the end it was a slaughter, making the Krogan realize that their desire to fight in close battles with Spartans was not an advantage as their thought.

Soon the Blood Pack simply ran out of bodies to send and it was now a one on one fight between the last Blood Pack Krogan and the Spartan. And all over the place were the cries of the dying and bleeding Blood Pack, an ironic comment towards their own name.

…

John soon faced the last of the Krogan, who was none other than Raekis himself and the Krogan Battle Master was in a deep level of fury and rage at how his forces were being decimated and humiliated by these two humans. Forgoing all manner of tactics and strategy, the oldest and most brutal of the Blood Pack force here changed as John with the intent of ripping the man limb from limb for the humiliation he had endured. John calmed himself and got ready for the battle as the Krogan took out a wicked battle knife and shouted.

"I AM GOING TO GUT YOU LIKE A STUCK VARREN!"

"Come and get me then."

The Krogan roared once more and began to attack John with his weapon, the Krogan also unleashed short but hardened blasts of Biotic energy to throw the Spartan off balance. This showed that while he was enraged, he did have enough wits to use his powers to get himself an opening. John quickly used his shield manipulation functions to create a blade of energy in one arm and he had his Combat Knife in the other. Soon both of them faced one another and John was able to lock himself down as bolts of Biotic energy came at him and he was forced to defend himself to prevent being flung back.

The last Krogan charged at John as he fired a massive bolt of Biotic energy but this time, John reacted, he side stepped the attacks coming at him and he quickly blocked the incoming knife strike with his own Knife and lashed out with the energy blade forged from his MJOLNIR's shield energy. The blade quickly sliced into the chest of the Krogan who roared in pain and John quickly attacked with the Knife and jammed it into the chest. The Krogan roared in anger and fired out a brief but powerful close range Biotic Blast that forced John back. He charged once more and lashed out with the Knife, but John quickly lashed up with a cutting strike and actually sliced off the arm, the last Krogan Battle Master and leader of the Blood Pack could onl;y gasp at the cauterized stump of his arm as John quickly attacked by using his other arm to create a second blade and with both energy blades began to launch a rapid number of attacks that stabbed into the Krogan's vial parts along with the redundant organs and the Spartan finished the attack by yanking out the Combat Knife and jammed it into the forehead of his foe with all his strength and right into the brain.

The Krogan could only look at John who then yanked the Knife out of his head and he dropped dead, his body still smoking from the various wounds and John soon picked up his discarded MA8A Plasma Assault Rifle and reloaded the next power cell. Jorge also joined him as he now carried his Plasma Cannon which was now being filled up with power due to the new power it was fed with.

…

It was obvious to anyone coming into the area that the once two hundred strong Blood Pack forces were now all dead or dying before the Spartans. They remedied the dying bit by hunting down the still living and killed them. Once that was over, they relaxed slightly and Cortana who was still deep in the security systems of the area of Omega that they were in. It was not long before John and Jorge were informed by Cortana of new forces coming in to attack them.

"Chief, Warrant Officer! We've got the Eclipse moving into the compound, they seem to be sending their Sisterhood forces this time ahead of their mechs who will be moving in with the main Eclipse forces. No signs of their gunships yet so they could be keeping them as backup."

"Sisterhood?"

"An all Asari force that usually operate in the planet of Ilium,, and they serve as a private security force, fancy words for mercs and guns for hire. A lot of them have murder records as long as your arms and they usually have to commit a murder to be in this bunch."

Jorge groaned a bit.

"Lovely, we're dealing with a whole band of blue skinned murderesses this time."

Cortana nodded and replied.

"Jorge is right there, they all are very capable Biotic users, but since our weapons can bypass Kinetic barriers and your armor can handle being hit by Biotics, then you all have a chance. But don't think they are going to let you guys have it easy. They number at least a fifty right now, so we're dealing with a very mixed outfit of veterans and newly initiated, and the rest of the Eclipse will be unleashing their mechs soon as well as their own forces and the Gunships. Apparently the Sisterhood bunch that we have on hand were here in Omega on what one could call a holiday."

John sighed.

"Bad day to pick a holiday here."

Both Spartans quickly took position as Cortana soon informed them of the arrival of the Sisterhood Eclipse. Her hacking of the security cameras was effective and soon she reported that the Sisterhood were the Vanguard of the Eclipse attack. No doubt while not as blood thirsty as Krogan, they were eager to make a name for themselves and are deluded into thinking that their Biotics would be the difference maker seeing that the Blood Pack only had a tiny number of Battle Masters.

However they were about to walk into something not one of them was prepared for.

…

The very first pair of the Sisterhood's advanced group moved into the area and apparently the two were not veterans since they were surprised at the sight of the utter carnage that was before all of them. This was a mistake as they were now being tracked by the Spartans, with Jorge deciding to use a spare sniper rifle that he found among the dead forces they had just sent to the proverbial grave. Once the pair were joined by two others, the Spartans who were ready fired their weapons. John fired two rounds in rapid succession. However their targets were not the Asari…but the salvaged flamethrower fuel tanks carried by the Vorcha that they had killed previously.

The rounds smashed into the tanks and soon they unleashed streams of fuel vapor right into the Eclipse Sisterhood, just as Jorge switched to using Inferno Rounds and fired at the lead Sisterhood Asari. The results were obvious as all four of them were engulfed in a massive blast of fire and all four screamed in pain as the fuel had seeped into the seams of their ceramic armor and burned into their flesh. The four now looked like a group of flaming beings as they were literally being roasted in their own armor. They ran a lot more and soon began to drop dead as the others came into the battle field to try and take out the Spartans. That was not going to be an easy thing as both John and Jorge began to unleash the rounds from their weapons.

The weapons they had were more than able to cause a great deal of damage on the Asari's body Armor and their shields. One tried to get closer to use her Shotgun, but was not able to get into cover fast enough and paid for her delay quickly as three plasma bolts smashed into her from John's Plasma Assault Rifle. The Plasma overloaded her shields and cooked her armor, making her land screaming in pain.

Her cries were soon followed by her partner's own as she was about to fire a Singularity at the armored giants but Jorge turned and unleashed a storm of plasma bolts that tore into her. One bolt actually splashed on her arm and consumed it, reducing her once glowing arm that was about to launch the Singularity into a bleeding charred ruin. She looked in horror at that and only got to see another flash of light and then pain once more and she looked down to see a gaping hole in her chest below her breastplate as John's Gauss Sniper Rifle round cut into her hard and fast.

Three more Asari came into the fight with one firing a Sniper Rifle at the two while the others came in with heavy weapons, in this case one had a Grenade Launcher and the other a Missile Launcher. They did not waste time and tried to kill the Spartans quickly with their weapons, forcing the pair to break from cover and find a better angle, They smiled and began to attack, covering for the others. It was here that John tossed one of the Spike Grenades. One Asari caught sight of the weapon and quickly knocked it aside from herself and her sisters. They were amused at it due to them giving it a brief look.

One quickly commented that it looked like a table leg from an old style wooden table with blades bolted to it. And another commented with contempt on who would be the primitives who makes weapons like that.

Their arrogance was their undoing since unlike them, the UNSC Marines, Army, Navy, and Air Force had more than ample reason to be terrified of the weapon. This was not a grenade made to wound you, this was not a weapon made to make you waste resources healing you. It was a weapon made to ensure that you died screaming.

The Asari found this own the hard way as they moved to the kill range of the weapon and it exploded. And like the mercs who were caught in the first one, they were quickly caught in a kill zone of super heated spikes. The rounds quickly tore through their armor and easily cut them to pieces. Their legs were sliced to bits and their lower bodies turned to pin cushions. The closest one was the one who got the full blow of the blast and her body was torn apart, her Sniper Rifle ruined in the same blast and her upper half stapled to the nearby wall.

…

The Eclipse Sisterhood comprised of some of the most talented Asari in the mercenary world and the majority of their forces were usually young but skilled and dedicated Asari who wanted to make a mark in their world and leave their names in the galaxy. They were considered one of the most effective and ruthless units in the Eclipse organization and were not to be messed with by regular folks. And many of them were strong Asari and those who became Sisters were considered the most ruthless and skilled of all the Eclipse forces and had fought against many other races of any gender.

But apparently, fighting augmented, genetically superior, battled hardened super soldiers wearing suits of highly advanced Power Armor with massive upgrades, and carrying some of the most powerful weapons from ANOTHER universe was NOT included in their line of work!

They streamed in to attack them, but that plan was going to be turned around as the Spartans continued to pour in their weapons fire into their ranks. Soon it was going to be close quarters as they did manage to use Barriers to get them closer to their targets. Not a good idea when the Spartans had the abilities to take on foes that could give even Krogan a run for their money.

One of the Sisterhood's Vanguards was introduced to a bone crushing right hook from John that shattered her bones and sent her flying to the side and hitting the nearby wall with bone crushing force and a loud sound of cracking ceramic and pulping flesh. Another of her sisters quickly got a Spiker round right in the neck that sent her flying back t the wall and was soon impaled as the white hot spike cauterized her wound and adding more tissue damage as she died while being stapled to the wall.

Jorge was not done in his end as one Asari was quickly rammed by the Spartan as her use of Biotics was not enough to slow down the man. She was quickly smashed at a low wall with enough force to break the wall, along with her spine and hip bones. She cried out in absolute horror as she felt all feeling below the waist died in a firestorm of pain and before she could react, Jorge came up and landed a punishing uppercut to the chin that had enough force to smash her jawbone and actually bend her neck to the point that the cartilage snapped and she died instantly. Another Asari tried to fire at Jorge but he reacted quickly and took out one of the knives and slashed in a rising diagonal slash that caught her at the side and the specially made blade sliced through her armor and she was slashed up to her ribs. And before she could register the pain of her innards flowing out from the clean opening, Jorge slashed with the same knife in an outward fashion and her head was nearly sliced off and only bits of her skin and flesh along with her armor's inner suit kept it connected as she dropped dead and bleeding all over the place and some landed on Jorge.

The two were not yet done as John fired several more spikes from the Spiker Rifles he had and stapled one Asari to the nearby column and followed that with a spike into the jaw. The next tried to attack John with a Katana shotgun up close, but that was a mistake as John moved away and impaled both Spiker Rifles into her chest.

Both tungsten blades on the weapons tore through the shields and crushed through the Armor as the Asari screamed in shock as her blood spurted out and landed on John. He did not notice and fired a shot burst of spikes into her body, and at that range, the spikes had no problem shooting through her armor and the flesh behind it and the spikes were nearly halfway out of her body as John yanked out the Spikers and allowed her to stand as she was bleeding and fell down in shock and pain as she died.

Jorge quickly took out the second Kukri Knife and rushed two more Asari who shot at him with their Vindicator Rifles. They were able to hit Jorge but their shots did nothing to stop him as he quickly rushed through them. He then lashed out with both knives, striking their arms at the wrists and followed the attacks with him stabbing both Asari in the chest, the blades busting through the ceramic plating. The Asari were shocked as their hands fell off still holding their rifles and blood flowed from their hands and they looked to their chests to see the blades buried to the hilts in their, Jorge calmly retracted the blades as their blood flowed out once more and covered Jorge as they themselves dropped dead.

The Asari who were left alive tried to fire at the Spartans but their efforts looked to be impossible as one of the younger Sisterhood Initiates was shaking in fear as she spoke out loudly, ignoring the whole situation around her as her eyes were glued to the sight of her gutted sisters.

"By the Goddess…what the hell are they?!"

"Stop your bitching and just kill the…AAAARRRRGGGGGG!"

The one who was trying to rile her up got a mouth full of plasma from John who had placed aside his Spikers with a loud clunk on the thigh plates and took out his MA8A and unleashed several plasma rounds, the Asari managed to get to cover but watched as two others near her were not as lucky as one was hit with a plasma bolt in the right shoulder that literally incinerated her shoulder and sent her right arm to the ground with the stump cauterized.

She watched in horror as the other got shot in the chest with plasma and dropped dead as there was a series of white hot holes in her ruined armor and the smell of burning flesh was thick in the air. The one who's arm had been literally burned off tried to unleash a Biotic attack but she watched as the Spartan in green and black armor evaded her attempt and quickly moved over his cover to take out a knife and stab the Asari right in the forehead. The Spartan then pulled the Combat Knife out as the Asari dropped down dead as the long blade carved through her skull and brain as the blood and bits of bone and brain matter hit the Spartan's armor in a quick spray of gore and death.

Turning around did not show a good sight as she saw Jorge toss one of the wicked and gore soaked Kukri Knives and she watched in horrified fascination as the weapon cut into the shoulder of another Eclipse Sister and before she could react, the massive armored Spartan rushed in and grabbed the knife and slashed it diagonally downwards and slashed through the Asari's body with deadly ease. She watched as he then smashed hard into another Asari who screamed in terror as the massive figure smashed her into a nearby wall and the young Initiate looked to see the older Asari driven into the wall which looked like it had been smashed by an asteroid. She did not need to look as the older Asari was dead as her blood flowed out from her mouth, eyes, and nose, as well as the cracks in her armor. The sheer impact of Jorge on her body shattered her bones and organs so much that no amount of Medi-gel was going to save her.

Three more of the surviving team looked at the Spartans and fired a large volume of fire at the two Spartans and the Asari hoped that they would be able to take on these armored beings. But her hopes were unfounded as a sphere of blue fire suddenly smashed into the leader. She watched in amazed horror as the sphere literally fused to the chest of the lead Sister and then exploded in a blast of blue fire.

She was far away from the blast but she was horrified as she felt the extreme heat hit her, it was like being surrounded by a pack of Flame thrower wielding Vorcha. Her flesh burned and she could feel her suffering massive burns on her flesh. The stink of her own skin and flesh being roasted by the sudden blue flames hit her nose and even the smell of her armor being scorched hit her. But it was nothing to her seeing her fellow Sisters being incinerated the point that their flesh and armor was burned away and only their bones were left, and those were already blackened to the point they looked like charcoal. The one who had been hit by the sphere…simply had her upper body vanish in fire and plasma, leaving only her lower half which was smoking from the plasma as it fell down, no blood flowed out as the liquids had all be flash boiled from the explosion.

She tried to run but found herself facing both Spartans as they looked at her and the sheer sight of the two armored behemoths covered in the blood of her entire team and that of the mercs they had previously slaughtered sent sheer waves of mindless terror into her in that moment. She numbly tried to react and raise her weapon, but felt like she was trying to lift a ship in her hands, she tried t force herself to use Biotics but her actions only ensured her death as the two quickly shot her with plasma fire.

As her body fell, she watched three more of her comrades come in, one unleashing a Biotic Pull to force the Spartan to come to them so she and the others could cut them off from his partner. That was a mistake in her dying mind and before darkness took her, she watched as the green armored Spartan ALLOWED himself to come to her companions, only to reveal his lethality to them with both those strange massive pistols with blades.

John moved forward and while the Asari attempted to smash him into the wall, he quickly used his thrusters to hold his movement. That surprised the Asari who used the Biotic attack, enough for John to send three spikes right into her, one tore into her shoulder, making her scream at the white hot pain that ran through her arm, the second spoke landed right into her chest right where the right lung would be, and before that even registered, the last spike impaled her right between the eyes.

The Spartan felt the Biotic field around him fall as he jetted forward and smashed his armored boots into the chest of another Sisterhood Asari, the woman could only scream briefly as she was smashed into the unforgiving metal floor by a man who weighed nearly a ton and a half in armor, John ended her suffered by snapping her neck with his boot. He dodged the attack from the other screaming Asari before she was quickly blasted from behind by Jorge who then turned his attention to another pair of Sisterhood members, one tried to fire a missile at the massive Spartan heavy gunner but Jorge responded by creating a massive energy wall that blocked the missile. The alien woman tried to fire another round while her partner readied her sniper rifle, but they were not going to get far.

Jorge quickly grabbed a Spike grenade and then tossed it towards them while quickly firing his Heavy Plasma weapon, forcing them to duck unaware of the sailing Spike Grenade that hit the wall behind them. The two turned and saw it, and it was the last thing they saw as it exploded in a hail of super heated tungsten carbide spikes that literally nailed them to the wall they were crouching behind. Both of them soon suffered the fate of those hit by this fierce some weapon, to die screaming as they looked like pin cushions as their blood was being boiled by the super heated spike along with their flesh and skin.

The Sisters however were hardly getting the message as several more came into the field, no doubt they were possibly the elites of the bunch. And that was proven to be accurate as they unleashed a barrage of objects at the Spartans, both as improvised weapons and distractions, the flying debris hit the Spartans' shields and made them get to cover as the Asari attacked with precise strikes with their weapons.

One Asari managed to fire a sphere of energy as Jorge that slammed into him and made him stop as she readied her shotgun, no doubt hoping to land a killing blow while another moved in with an Assault Rifle, no doubt to support her sister in the attack. Jorge grunted a bit and swore at them darkly as he quickly decided to give their Biotics a real workout.

"You are going to WISH you never did that!"

Before the two could react, Jorge armed the thrusters in his flight pack and then pushed forward with his strength and power. The attack surprised the two Asari as they had never seen anyone, power out of a Biotic strike like that, namely since it was a precision Warp Strike, Jorge's Forerunner enhanced armor and shields was more than able to hold it's own. The first fired a shotgun blast at Jorge, and the shields flared as the Biotic field around the Spartan crackled, but Jorge closed the gap between him and her and without pausing smashed the face of the Asari with a massive head butt with his helmet's crown. The sound of the impact was sickening as the Asari screamed in pain as her bones cracked and blood flowed out from her nose and mouth, splashing into Jorge's visor. The Spartan was hardly done as he channeled his Shield's energy into his fist and smashed a hell of a punch into the chest of the Asari. That made the sound of cracking armor and shattered bone all the more pronounced as the Asari released more blood as she coughed put the result of her shattered ribs ripping into her internal organs. The blood flowed onto Jorge's armor as he then turned to the fire of the other Asari's weapon.

Jorge took the blast from the Shotgun, his shields taking the blow and quickly righted himself as he quickly kicked the Asari who tried in vain to use her shotgun as a shield to block the Spartan's kick. It did little to stop the blow however as she was sent flying back and smashing hard into the nearby wall, she cried out in pain from the sheer force of impact, only for a spinning Kukri Knife to fly and impale her by the throat. The attack killed her instantly as the blade also severed the bones in her neck as Jorge removed the weapon as the blood spurted from her massive neck wound and splattered all over the armor's front.

John was not alone either as he was being attacked by another pair of Asari working in tandem with one another. One fired a Singularity at the Spartan wile another tried to take his head off with a powerful Sniper Rifle, apparently a Black Widow Sniper Rifle. John however saw the sniper and quickly fired a blast at her with his Plasma Assault Rifle and that forced her to break away as the Spartan was able to avoid the Singularity, but not enough to avoid the Biotic Blast that followed soon afterwards. He managed to quickly re-route his shields and take the hit and was forced to get pushed back,.

The Asari looked happy and they moved in for the kill, John expected that and as soon as he recovered his senses from the throw, he quickly got up and charged fast. The Asari managed to make a barrier and get out of the way as she rolled to the side. Her grin however died as John had seen her move and had moved at the same time. And as she got up from her roll, she found herself facing the barrel and soon her face was bathed by plasma, killing her instantly.

The other Asari screamed in anger as she tried to fire at John once more, but John quickly got to cover and as soon as the round smashed into the barrier, he got up and then re-routed the shields to the front of him to full power as the Asari fired another round from the Black Widow Rifle, the shields took the hit and allowed him to move quickly towards her before she could fire. He quickly knocked aside the weapon and he quickly smashed the butt of his MA8A Plasma Assault Rifle into her face, shattering her nose and it also cracked her skull as she fell back.

She barely managed to sit up before John quickly smashed the butt of his weapon again, only this time on her throat, shattering her wind pipe and snapping her neck before she could react or attack with a Biotic charge. The woman's blood flew from her mouth, and nose as well as from her ruined face and soon splattered on John's armor as well as his visor.

…

It was not long before the entire detachment of the Eclipse Sisterhood were now dead before the Spartans as John surveyed the carnage, quickly gathering the details and silent signaling to Jorge to move into position and Jorge complied as they fell back to their original kill positions as the rest of the Eclipse detachment came in, with the mechs at the front. The force was treated to the sight of their utterly decimated assault force of Asari and that was going to be their only warning.

"BOOM!"

The sonic boom they heard was followed by the sight of one of their Salarian comrades, losing his head, quite literally as it was obliterated in a heart beat. That was soon followed by a stream of plasma bolts that easily tore through their Kinetic Barriers like they were tin foil and one more of their human comrades got a plasma strike to his crotch, making him scream in mindless agony as the ceramic plating was reduced to charcoal…along with his privates. His screaming was put to an end as a Gauss round tore through his chest at high speed, briefly unleashing a massive spray of blood all over the place behind him as he was literally split in half by the sheer kinetic force.

"GET TO COVER!"

The Eclipse forces did not hesitate to get to cover and those armed with heavy assault rifles tried to suppress the Spartans in order to stop them from being slaughtered. They were able to do so, unaware that their plans were not going to be all that effective. Their phasic rounds did indeed do the best work at the shields, but not by a lot. John and Jorge quickly reloaded and cooled their weapons. Their supplies were still good and with Cortana hacking the mechs that were used by the Eclipse that were still active began to attack the Eclipse as well. As soon as the mechs were halfway in, the hacking worked and now the Eclipse were being hit by their own mechs.

They reacted badly to the battle as their mechs now turned their weapons against them all and now the Spartans were in the positive side of numerical superiority. The mechs also now provided the Spartans an option when it came to wiping out the Eclipse forces.

The combined force of Salarians, Humans, and Asari were now finding themselves in a bloody crossfire that was cutting them down like rats. Three Salarians moved to try and overload the mechs, only for them to be shot by John with his Gauss Sniper Rifle. Two of them were instantly cut into two separate halves while the other tried to fire at the Spartan, only to receive a plasma bolt in the arms while he held his weapon and it exploded, making him drop dead with only two smoking stumps on his arms and a LOT of shrapnel making confetti in the front of him. That was courtesy of Jorge who saw the attempt.

Three Humans moved to attack the Spartans, namely John as they hoped to flank him and disable him from using his massive weapon. But Jorge was not going to let that happen as he aimed his Plasma Cannon and one of the Eclipse mercenaries, a woman got hit by a plasma bolt to the right shoulder, the plasma instantly ate through her shields and armor and her flesh was literally reduced to charred ruins as she dropped dead. The other two got to cover and one tried to throw a grenade at Jorge, only for Jorge to fire a precise hit that engulfed his arm which had the grenade. The plasma ate his arm and reduced it into ash, while that also detonated the grenade which blasted him to bits while severely wounding the other one as well.

The Spartan quickly turned and fired another trio of plasma bolts at a brave Salarian Engineer or a reckless one as he tried to fire an Overload strike at the Spartan. The brief second delay of arming the attack, allowed the bolts to slam into him. The first bolt burned off his left leg at the knee, the second slammed into his right arm and the last burned into the chest. The Salarian cried out and soon dropped dead in a smoking mess. John was soon attacked by two Asari Eclipse mercs not part of the Sisterhood but they were soon pinned down by the mechs that Cortana had secretly hacked and were forced to turn around to face their mechanical attackers. This allowed John to line up a shot, he switched to the x-ray mode of his MJOLNIR's helmet and also overcharged the magnetic coils of the Gauss Sniper Rifle and fired the round. The weapon's power was augmented and soon it tore through the cover used by the Asari and tore through them with a resounding splat as John placed aside the weapon.

The mechs that Cortana took over and controlled were also unleashing their own version of hell on the now fully outnumbered Eclipse forces. The LOKI mechs moved to cover the YMIR mechs that Cortana had hacked and the only two YMIR mechs still being controlled by their handlers were now smoking ruins though one of Cortana's new toys was no longer operational. However she had that one charge into the Eclipse line and explode, killing several more of the mercs.

And to really make things hard was that both John and Jorge used their gravity thruster packs to take to the air, catching the Eclipse off guard as they did not expect them to be able to fly. The airborne angles allowed the Spartans to hit hard and fast, and their random movement patterns gave the mercs a hell of a time before they could fight back. The fact that several of their own mechs were now taken out by Cortana's own controlled mechs cut them down as well.

However, it was here that the leader of the Eclipse unit, an Asari Captain named Janesca called in the Gunships they had.

"GET THE GUNSHIPS UP HERE NOW! WE'RE BEING MASSACRED!"

…

And sure enough the vehicles arrived as Cortana warned of their arrival to the Spartans who landed on the ground after their packs had to recharge themselves, Jorge quickly got to cover and so did John as he switched to using his MA8A Plasma Assault Rifle and looked to see one of the vehicles turn it's attention to him and fired a set of missiles at him.

John quickly ducked as the area he had been in had been hit by the missiles fired by the Mantis Gunship, the Spartan quickly ran for cover just as the voice of the apparent pilot, a female shouted.

"Come back here you fucking armored Freak! You're going to pay for killing Tashia!"

John gave a look at the Mantis as mass Accelerator slugs peppered his position and saw through his MJOLNIR's HUDs that the pilot was a female Human, and since she was Eclipse, there was no doubt she was referring to one of the Sisterhood. John did not care about that since the dead Asari in question was his enemy and so was this one. John checked his target and quickly did his calculations on the Mantis Gunship and also access what he learned of it.

The Mantis was faster, a bit more maneuverable than the UNSC Hornet or the limited production Sparrowhawk, or the Falcon. And it had Kinetic barriers as well, of a higher grade than those used by Infantry so it would have to be dealt with. John already had an idea, but all he needed was to get the pilot's unwitting cooperation. He quickly moved and the pilot fired out her Gunship's mass accelerators, but those missed the Spartan by the width of a hair, and those that did hit were countered by the Shields. The woman apparently was enraged at the Spartan still being alive and fired another pair of missiles, John counted on that and quickly his Spartan Time kicked in and calculations came to his head as he aimed his weapon and fired several bursts of plasma, the energy smashed into the missile and it exploded as John quickly used slapped the next missile aside with Cortana aiding him in the same moment, replicating the same event they pulled off when Ackerson in his arrogance tried to kill them.

The Missile however was caught by the Spartan using his shield manipulation functions, grabbed the missile and then lashed out with the arm and send it like a right hook into the cockpit of the Mantis. The move caught the pilots off guard as the missile slammed hard into their shields and sending them back.

The smoke cleared moments later and they began to look for their target…only for them to see John in front of them as he had used his shield manipulation abilities to move himself to the cockpit using the smoke as cover. John did not wait for them to react as he smashed his fist into the canopy and got a good grip as he yanked out a panel and then removed one of his Grenades and tossed it into the cockpit and then blocked at an attack by the lead pilot with her weapon as he fired a round from his Spiker which impaled the female pilot. John moved aside as the grenade exploded and soon the Mantis gunship went down and slammed into the nearby wall. He landed had into the ground and quickly used both Spikers as he fired into the heads of two more human Eclipse members while quickly moving aside as an Asari managed to fire her weapon behind him. The majority of rounds missed but some hit the shields and John quickly placed aside his Spikers and resorted to his Plasma Assault Rifle.

Jorge was now the next one as the second to the last gunship targeted him next and he knew that he had to take it out and fast. And he had a very good idea on how to do that.

Jorge quickly pulled a fast one as he placed down his weapon and quickly grabbed a large metal spear and fired the impromptu missile at the second Gunship which was after him this time around. The weapon was not hitting the cockpit, but it instead tore into the nose of the Gunship, this skewered all the controls. This forced the Gunship to move wildly in the air and the pilots were trying to recover and fire their weapons at the Spartans. Jorge however was not going to let that happen as he rushed forward and grabbed the Spartan Laser behind his back and as soon as he was underneath the Mantis, fired a beam that easily tore through the middle of the undersection of the craft. The Mantis exploded and soon fell down in a fiery display of burning that soon surrounded Jorge who's shields blocked it and gave him the visage of being a demon from Hell. The sight of the massive Spartan armed with the Laser Cannon, surrounded by the burning bifurcated remains of the gunship was a sight no one in the Eclipse were prepared to see and Jorge made them pay for their hesitation as he quickly fired a beam and killed at least four more of the Eclipse mercs. They soon sported smoking holes in their chests and three others were critically wounded by being hit by the beam on the side or by the immense heat that literally burned their own armor into their flesh.

The numbers of the Eclipse Mercenaries were dropping like flies as the Spartans were moving in for the proverbial kill.

…

Janesca swore as her soldiers were being cut down and soon she was facing none other than the massive Spartan who carried that monster of a cannon. She knew that she was going to die, but she was not going to back down either. She fired her weapon at the man until her weapon was overheating, she tossed the weapon aside and quickly lifted several large pieces of debris, tossing them Biotically at Jorge. She saw as the Spartan whacked them aside and she fired all her Biotics at the Spartan.

The blast of Biotic energy slammed hard into Jorge, but the Spartan locked himself down and began to push forward and she could not help but look in horror. She pulled every bit of energy she had to stop the Spartan cold, but Jorge is not deterred and continued to move closer and closer. His form continued through the river of Biotic energy and soon the Asari ran out of energy and all she could see was Jorge looming over her and suddenly she was grabbed by the neck and Jorge took out a Kukri Knife which she heard easily.

But she was not afraid for death and spoke to the massive figure before her who's visor showed her own frightened face.

"G…Guh…Get is over with."

"Gladly."

SHISH!

The splattering sound was heard and Jorge had stabbed the Asari Captain into the chest with his weapon. The Asari gasped in pain, but the pain was brief and she closed her eyes with a slight smile on her face as Jorge released her now dead form.

…

It was not long before all of the Eclipse forces were dead and bleeding all over the place, only a handful of mechs who were still under Cortana's command remained active. The Spartans soon began to kill the surviving mercs with ruthless precision and when it was over, they allowed their weapons to cool and have them reloaded. It was also here that Cortana gave them the latest report.

"Looks like the last bunch we have to deal with are the Blue Suns, and judging by the size we have, I'd say they have the numbers to offset the Eclipse and the Blood Pack."

"Gunships?"

"None right now, no doubt they were hoping that the Eclipse could tackle that and so far no more reports of mechs and more on their side. O you an bet that they will be using numbers in this situation. But don't be the least bit surprised that they were not going to go down with out a fight."

"How many are they?"

"Three hundred, combination of Batarians, some Asari, Humans, and Turians, and all of them look to be ready to go in for the kill. No doubt their bosses want payback for the stunt we pulled on that base they had before."

John soon replied.

"Well then, let's not disappoint them."

…

The Blue Suns were moving deeper into the base, the Spartans had moved back to allow the mercenaries to see the full extent of the slaughter. Their course of action proved to be effective as the Blue Suns finally got to see the results of the slaughter of the mercs, the Blood Pack, and the Eclipse. The first band, comprising of three Turians and three humans moved over to the wreckage of the Mantis Gunship that John had destroyed, but their actions were a mistake as John had placed a collection of grenades in the wreckage and they soon exploded like mines that killed four of the group and left the last bleeding and screaming in pain.

This was only the beginning as they moved in closer, unaware that Jorge and John had recovered more of the fuel tanks used by the Vorcha for their flame throwers and had actually poured the fuel on the floor and into the sprinkler systems. Once the Blue Suns came in groups, the Spartans unleashed their trap with Cortana making sure that the fuel was made into a fine mist. The fuel that was now in mist form flowed into the area and when John appeared and allowed the Blue Suns to fire, their actions sealed their own fate. The super heated projectiles actually allowed the fuel to flame up and the Blue Sun groups, numbering three with five members each were suddenly engulfed in flames.

They all screamed in pain and shock as the fire surrounded them from all areas. And the floor itself suddenly erupted in flames and all of them were consumed by fire. This lasted for a few moments and the Blue Suns soon dropped down as they were consumed by fire and soon either dropped dead from being literally cooked in their armor or ran out of air as the ignited fuel damaged their armor's systems and that killed them faster.

The others watched in shock but they moved on once the flames were easier to cross and they avoided the now charred bodies of their comrades. The dead naturally comprised of Turians, Batarians and Humans and as they moved to attack John, the Spartan merely replied by firing his Gauss Sniper Rifle and killed two Turians at the same time. Jorge soon came in and fired his Spartan Laser and that blast cut down four more Blue Suns, all four dropped dead with massive holes that were literally burning at the edges in them. The Blue Suns moved to cover and fired their weapons, but like the Eclipse mercenaries before them, they were caught off guard when the Spartans literally took to the air and now they were being bombarded either by Jorge or John. John killd three of the Blue Suns and then he charged in like a comet and landed in the midst of six of the mercenaries and before they could react, John began to lash out. His augmented strength shattered bones, cracked ceramic armor and pulped organs. In that moment, all six Blue Suns fell dead in mangled heaps as John tossed a Plasma Grenade into a Turian who tried to remove the weapon as it fused into his armor. The mercs who were nearby were soon consumed by plasma fire as it detonated moments later.

Jorge soon came in as he landed right on top of a Batarian firing his weapon wildly at him and the Batarian was reduced into a massive smear on the ground as he rushed with both Gauss SMGs in hand and fired the weapons without any hesitation at four nearby Blue Suns, three who were humans were torn apart before they could fire. The last one, a Turian tried to use his Shotgun only for Jorge to knock the weapon aside and then fired both weapons in close quarters. The larger SMG rounds literally tore the chest apart of the Turian and his blood splattered on the Armor, he turned and quickly kicked the legs of a Human mercenary coming in to attack from behind with a Shotgun. The woman screamed in pain as Jorge fired the last rounds into the chest to kill the mercenary trying to blind side him.

…

The battle was intense and once it was over, and there was a lull in the battle as the next wave of Blue Sun mercenaries were still coming in. Both Spartans soon began to move into position and quickly cloaked themselves, switching to attack in close combat. They had their close combat weapons ready and soon the Blue Suns' next wave of mercs came into sight. The Spartans moved into the shadows as the first band of mercs came in. The groups were numbering four with five people each. Jorge moved in first with his Kukri Knives ready and he grabbed the first one and slit the throat of the foe, the blade cut deeply into the armor's open seams and cut flesh, tendon, and bone and Jorge quickly moved to the next, stabbing with tremendous force into the back of his next foe, a Batarian, severing the spine and killing his foe quickly. The massive Spartan quickly moved in to the third foe and he launched a powerful chop at the back of the head, quickly snapping the neck bone at the base of the skull. The two turned to see what was going on, only for Jorge who was still cloaked to slash with both knives, slicing their throats at the very same time.

John moved in towards his own group that was ahead of the ones that Jorge had just terminated and he quickly attacked the closest one with a Combat Knife strike in the area of the spine which could lead to death easily. As the female Asari's blood flowed from her wound in the back, John quickly moved to the next one who turned and he slashed the Asari's throat and her blood flowed out before she could say anything. John moved right next to the male Turian who looked at his direction and he landed out a powerful bone crushing strike to the chest area, following with a stabbing strike right in the throat. Before the three aliens could even hit the floor, John was a whirlwind of motion and attacked the last two with him stabbing one of the human mercs in the head through the helmet with the Combat Knife and landing yet another bone shattering strike to the chest region of the male mercenary and following up with a lethal strike to the neck, snapping bones and tendons, nearly decapitating the man with his bare hands.

The last three groups turned around and were shocked to see their dead comrades before them as John and Jorge moved in quickly as their cloaks would soon run out of power. They slammed into the two groups and began to cut into them with precision, aiming for the vital areas and going for lethal strikes. Before they could fire their weapons, they were either knocked aside or the Spartans broke their arms and hands, or just cut them off before stabbing them in the back to sever the spine, slash at the throats to spill blood or take their heads off, and also stab them into the chests. The attacks spilled a LOT of blood as heads and limbs were knocked aside. As the two groups were cut down, the cloaking systems in the armor finally powered down and the last group saw the Spartans appear from the shadows with the bodies of their comrades spilling Turian, Asari, Batarian, and Human blood all over the place.

The shock they had in them was also what killed them as the Spartans quickly charged in and this time they were not hiding. The Spartans quickly slammed into the three there and they stabbed them in rapid succession and then kicked the bodies away to send them flying back before they threw their knives into the last two. John's Knife stabbed deeply into the Turian's arm to weaken his foe before he landed a powerful series of punches and the Turian's blood flew from the mouth as the Spartan's punches shattered his bones and bone plates through the armor and the Spartan soon struck with one killer blow that snapped the Turian's neck like a brittle bread stick.

Jorge's two Knives were just as difficult as the first stabbed the Batarian in the left leg and the second buried itself in the right shoulder, blowing the Batarian's aim off and Jorge quickly took both Knives off and stabbed both into the chest of the Batarian and after doing that three times, quickly had both weapons in hand. He then slashed both at the same time and decapitated his foe who was still showing immense pain at the outcome of the attack.

The second wave had been annihilated as both Spartans were soon informed by Cortana that the others were coming and they soon moved back. Leaving the slain Blue Suns behind as object lessons to the rest to show just what was going to happen to them as they moved into the inner sanctum of the compound. This time this was going to be the end for the Blue Suns.

…

And the end was coming as the rest of the Blue Suns moved in and soon saw all the bodies of the merc cannon fodder they sent ahead, then the Blood Pack, next the Eclipse, and soon their own comrades. They tried to ignore it but already the psychological warfare aspect of the bodies being left there worked as many of the Blue Suns were unnerved by the sheer scale of slaughter before them. They were only dealing with TWO guys in ARMOR, but already these two and that A.I had caused this much damage to all of them.

They moved on however, hoping to end this and take the money, but that was not going to be easy as they walked into a kill zone as the Spartans and their A.I partner unleashed yet another bout of hell. Cortana used the remaining mechs to attack and while her YMIR were no longer working due to severe damage they were still useful. The Spartans were not far behind and made their own moves to cut down the enemy with John providing long range fire with the Gauss Sniper Rifle and Jorge with heavy suppressing fire.

The entire inner compound was now filled with weapons fire and bodies as the Blue Suns that were still alive moments later were now on their own. And already their feelings towards the bounty had changed from eagerness t utter terror.

"By the Spirits…what the hell are we fighting?-!"

The Turian screamed as he watched three more of his companions, two Batarians and one Human were ruthlessly cut down by the Spartans as one of the Batarians was hit by a plasma bolt on the left side of the face, reducing that half into charred ruin as the wound showed blackened flesh, organs, and bone. The other was quickly hit by three bolts in rapid succession, filling the air with the smell of melted ceramic, inner weave, flesh, skin, fluids, and bone. The Human got a plasma bolt barrage right in the stomach and the Turian could only watch in horror as the plasma ate through his partner's armor and cooked his guts into charcoal.

The other Blue Suns mercs continued to try and hammer the Spartans, but they were not going to have an easy time, John switched to his Gauss Sniper Rifle and quickly shot down two more mercs who made the mistake of lining up and both of them got a Gauss slug right in the chest area, ripping through them as they dropped dead. Jorge was not far behind as he fired a barrage of plasma bolts on three mercs who managed to find cover, but were unaware that what they did was what Jorge wanted.

He unclipped a plasma grenade and sent it flying over with one might throw, just into for one of the mercs to catch it with her face. The Human woman screamed as her face was literally being cooked by the plasma and she was soon put out of her agony as the plasma incinerated her face to nothing along with her arms and shoulders along with most of her upper chest. What was left of her arms fell down with the stumps blackened and smoking along with her body as it fell dead. The others with her suffered just as badly as they were either writhing in agony as third and fourth degree burns were on them as well as them missing limbs, or the others were dead.

The Blue Suns attacked in full force once more, as two Batarians armed with Grenade Launchers tried to pin the Spartans. They managed to do so as both Jorge and John were in cover…however Cortana came in as she quickly revealed the hacked Mechs and sent them charging towards the Batarians, she overrode the safety programs and turned the now running mechs into suicide bombers. The Batarians turned to take out one of the mechs, only to be suddenly hit by three more and were blown up. They were sent back in a mess of pain as they bled to death. The other mechs were quick to get the Blue Suns caught in a crossfire of considerable proportions as they now found themselves being surrounded on all sides with the exception of the rear, which was soon looking to be very promising as some began to pull back.

Only to expose themselves to John who was currently using his Gauss Sniper Rifle to drill them in the back and on the back of the head. Three Blue Sun Turian members found that out the hard way as one had his head blown off by the massive round, another was literally sliced in half as the round tore into his lower back, and the last, a female Turian had a clean smoking hole in the back with a massive hole revealing her internal organs and her now flowing blood.

Jorge was not missing out on the action as he quickly unleashed another barrage of plasma bolts from his Plasma Cannon, forcing more of the Blue Suns to get to cover. The entire area was now a gory battle field as corpses of all the mercs that had died still littered the place. A sickening mix of blood was everywhere along with organs and worse. The Blue Suns tried desperately to mount a counter attack but the Spartans were not letting up, and neither was Cortana as she continued to use the Mechs to bombard the mercenaries with weapons fire. The smell of burning flesh and worse filled the air and the results were enough to make the surviving mercenaries shudder as the carnage continued.

As more and more of the Blue Suns fell down in pain and bleeding all over the place, the surviving mercenaries were losing the will to fight. Their discipline was dropping down the drain as the Spartans quickly moved in to finish them off. John placed aside his Gauss Sniper Rifle and Jorge provided the heavy fire as John took out his Spiker Rifles once more and fired three spikes right into the face of one Turian member of the Blue Suns, one spike entered the right eye, then through the neck and the other one right through the head. The alien soldier fell dead and his partner, a human female mercenary could only watch in shock as the Spartan overwhelmed her and her partner's previous position and before she could react, her neck was cut open by the tungsten blades and she fell down bleeding on the ground in shock as the Spartan moved to cover and then got up to impale one charging human Blue Suns in the chest with the same blades that tore her neck open/ Before she died, the mercenary saw John kick his energy right in the chest and sent him flying back like he was a rag doll

Jorge scored two more kills and John quickly reloaded his Spikers, placed them back on his thigh plates and took out the MA7A Plasma Assault Rifle and fired three bolts into the chest of another Batarian Blue Suns member and he quickly fired another bolt into the face of another attacker as the desperate Turian tried to actually shot him point blank with a shotgun. The attacker got only a superheated bolt in the face for all his trouble and dropped down headless as a result.

It was not long before the Spartans wiped out the Blue Suns and soon they methodically terminated the survivors of the group. Those who tried to fight back even when in intense pain were killed effortlessly by John and Jorge along with Cortana as her controlled mechs just walked up and executed them all with clean shots to the head. Those who were alive yet begged for mercy did get it as John decided to salvage from Medi-gel canisters from the dead around them and tossed them to the wounded who surrendered, but not before making it pointedly clear that if they tried anything on him, Jorge and, Cortana, then they died.

That was proven accurate as one tried to get a grenade, for Jorge to mercilessly stomp on his hand, crushing the appendage into a pulpy mess of broken flesh, torn, skin blood and gutted bones. Followed a quick stab to the head with his Kukri Knife, he then located the man's grenade belt, took out a grenade, primed it and jammed it into the mouth of his attacker before moving away as the grenade exploded, releasing a shower of bone, flesh, organs, armor and blood behind Jorge which also served to cover his armor.

…

The slaughter was drawing to a close and the mercenaries from the Blue Suns were soon joining the bodies of the other slain mercs who they were with. The very last living merc, a cowering human male with Spanish descent looked at the two Spartans who were soon joined by Cortana who was on top of John's hand. He was horrified at facing these guys…him, the leader of the Blue Suns reduced to a quivering wreck as both armored behemoths were there before him, covered in all the blood and gore of everyone they had killed.

He had tried his best to get away but with them nearby, escape was not going to happen. He was trying to get his tongue and brain to work but the Spartans were calm about the whole affair and John looked at the man and then he saw the body language that told him that despite his being a Commander of the Blue Suns…

The man pissed himself.

That was not lost in the slightest by Jorge who could not help but comment.

"You have got to be joking me. Did he just piss in his suit?"

John replied to that easily enough.

"Yes."

Jorge snorted and Cortana sighed a bit as she replied.

"Okay, enough joking around, let's find out just who sent him and his running buddies after us shall we?"

John nodded and Cortana leaped off of his hand and became a full human figure of a woman, who was by all right naked and VERY hot looking even if she was a computer simulation. She then looked at the man who was beyond terrified to notice her looks and she decided to shock him a bit with a slight tazer hit as she manipulated her form to release a static electrical charge. It was mild, really mild to the point of making a man gently twitch in reaction like a light bug bite on the skin. But considering his terrified state the man soon lost control of not just his ability to piss, but his ability to shit too.

That did not escape the attention of the two Spartans and they sighed in obvious disgust at this, Cortana ignored that and spoke seriously to the man.

"Now that I have your undivided attention, let me spell out how this is going to go. Since you are the only surviving leader of your whole force here in Omega, you can provide us with some help. Do that and I might convince my two friends here to let you leave alive."

That got the man's attention and he was now looking at Cortana and the Spartans as they lowered their weapons a bit. He soon recovered what was left of his mental faculties and spoke to them.

"I-I-I'll tell you what you want to know! Just please let me go..."

John moved in and grabbed the man's armor and lifted him easily to his feet, propping the man up and he spoke to the man.

"Who hired you, the Blood Pack, and the Eclipse?"

"I-It was a group, the Collectors were the first…they paid almost all the credits for the op…but the Batarian Hemogeny and the Shadow Broker had also placed their own bounties on you all. That's why we decided…to work with Eclipse and Blood Pack as well as hire out all these other riff raff. We were to split the earnings three ways, no need to be greedy and all."

Cortana raised an eyebrow at this and both John and Jorge was also surprised for the fact that three different groups wanted their tech. The Batarians they could understand since they had a serious axe to grind with humans. The Shadow Broker would want to get his/her/their hands on the technology and do who knows what with it. But the Collectors…they were a different story since like just about everyone in this reality, they had heard of the Collectors.

They had heard stories about them being a myth to everyone else, but both John and Cortana knew that at times, myths had a grain of truth in them somewhere. The Collectors were known to come through the Omega 4 Relay and they had heard that they paid a LOAD of credits to get things that did not make sense, but actually was wrong in hindsight. The fact that the Collectors wanted their tech was a concern for them.

John looked at the man, uncaring for the fact that his gore soaked visor was mere inches from the man. It actually worked in his favor since after seeing how he, Jorge, and Cortana tore apart his forces, this man was going to sing like a canary as it were. Psychological warfare was not his forte but he was more than able to do that.

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?"

"I-I-I-I s-s-swear I am telling you the truth! We were paid by them to take you and your friends out…We…we thought it was going to be an easy op."

Jorge gave a slightly disturbing laugh, showing that he too was trained to attack his foes psychologically. It helped matters that he was one of the larger Spartans physically and his armor was covered head to toe in gore and blood.

"Looks like your intel dropped the ball on this one big time huh?"

Cortana then moved to the man's Omni-tool, hacked it and smiled as she downloaded some information into a TACPAD. She then spoke to the man who was still trembling at the sight of John's bloody visor mere inches from his face.

"And it seems that you all were planning to make a hell of a move on Omega too…You've got some balls as it were to plan this, don't you think? I believe a certain Asari would be VERY interested in this information."

The man paled even further and knew just what Cortana was driving at and it was not long before John released the man and he tried to run away, only for him to slip on a pool of blood and impale himself in the neck and soon he died. Out of the one thousand five hundred mercenaries, thugs and the rest that banded together, not a single one of them was left alive. Only difference was that the last one died because of sheer terror and an accident…lucky him.

The Spartans ignored that and soon they packed up and left the area. leaving a horrendous mess of bodies and wrecks all over the place.

…

Later…

As the Spartans moved back towards the location of Afterlife, they were quick to notice that a large number of the people who were nearby backed away from them. The looks from some of the nearby gangs and thugs who had apparently not taken part of the attack were filled with shock and a level of fear. And they all steered clear of them, which did not surprise John and Jorge as their armor was still covered in blood.

And that was a mix of Asari, Turian, Batarian, Salarian, Krogan, Vorcha, Human, and Varren blood. A mix that was no doubt VERY shocking as the stuff was still dripping down on them and leaving small pools from where they were walking, and as they moved they were also leaving bloody footprints behind them. Once they arrived at Afterlife, the doors parted and everyone looked at them with wariness and fear, John and Jorge did not care as they moved on and were soon in Afterlife.

Once they were there, they walked towards where Aria is, and they could easily see that the Asari leader of Omega was staring at them as well as her underlings, the Asari dancers nearby were still going at it, but they were not fooling the Spartans as they were aware that they were armed with weapons and their Biotics gave them an edge. But not to them, having fought Biotics to some better extent than before, the two Super Soldiers were a lot better prepared and it was obvious that the Asari were very wary at the idea of tangling with the Spartans.

Aria then spoke calmly to the Spartans.

"You both realize you are both letting that crap cover the floors of my territory?"

John shrugged and replied.

"Don't blame us; blame the ones who thought numbers would work on Spartans."

Aria could not help but agree, what she had seen…was unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life. Two men just managed to outright slaughter a thousand and a half armed people and walked around covered in gore and blood like it was a walk in the park. She had heard some rumors that in their universe, the Spartans were called Demons by their foes for being nearly impossible to kill and could wipe out entire regiments of troops on their own. She thought that it was just rumors and propaganda bullshit that the humans in their universe propagated. All nothing more than political bullshit to look good even with such advanced firepower with them.

And the same could be said for her men and her guards as some had joked that they could take them on. But after seeing them slaughter Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse in a brutal and efficient fashion, Aria could see that NONE of them were in the mood to back up their claims. She also had no doubt that cleaning up the slaughter was going to be nightmare for her people but she had no choice as she spoke.

"Never mind that, what the fuck am I supposed to do with all the bodies you left behind?"

Jorge shrugged as some of the blood flowed down his armor as he did so and he replied.

"That's your call, not ours, we've done our job."

John nodded and then spoke to Aria.

"And we are leaving right now, if you want to clean up the mess, then better get at it."

Aria got up and glared at the Spartan and replied.

"You've got a lot of balls to be giving me orders!"

John then decided to make his annoyance know, the last thing he wanted to be doing was wasting his time trading word barbs with a crime boss. Never mind the fact that she was an Asari and no doubt was highly skilled and had a number of guards. Who he could see were already tensing up to ready their weapons for combat. He spoke in a more cold and ruthless tone while still remaining in absolute control of his emotions.

"If I was giving orders to you, I would have been a lot more forceful about it. I am not here to waste my time, we came here to inform you we were leaving, unless you plan to stop us with brute force for that comment. It won't end well for you and your men and women, but you can go ahead and try."

That got the people around the Spartans fully focused and the guards raised their weapons and aimed them at the Spartans while Aria was covered with her Biotic fields. But it was here that Cortana decided to get involved in the conversation.

"I suggest you stand down Asari, I am currently in control of the systems here in Omega, or if you are feeling dramatic, I have my dainty fingers on every nerve ending on this station and I can do some VERY interesting things to you and your little band of soldiers and body guard cum exotic dancers before you can even blink."

Aria was shocked a bit and saw Cortana appear nearby in her Human sized Avatar form and she glared at the A.I

"What they fuck are you talking about?"

Cortana was not impressed and walked towards Aria and moved past the table easily and jabbed an electronic finger at her chest. And she then allowed Aria to see her eyes become blood red as the A.I's color changed, showing that she was becoming a lot more aggressive.

"You've already SEEN what the Spartans can do so I won't tell you how badly this can end for you if you don't get those ears of yours to work. But that is puppy play compared to the hell I will put you through."

"I can lock down this entire section of Omega then heat up the air exchangers here to reach a temperature of at least three hundred and ninety degrees above boiling point. In simple terms I can turn this entire club of yours into one massive oven and roast you all in your own blood and bodily fluids."

"Or, I could shut down the power here in Afterlife and have you float around and slowly die of asphyxiation as I also will drain all the breathable air in here."

"Or I can also cause the internal systems to reach flash point and this entire club of yours will be incinerated and I will make sure that the fire retardant systems will not work and you all will not be able to escape."

"Or I can make the water cooling systems go off the rails, lock down the club and unleash enough super heated water to boil all of you like lobsters in a stew pot."

"I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this, you do ANYTHING to my Spartans, then you are going to WISH they killed you quickly because I will make sure that you die slowly and VERY painfully and for them they can handle it since the armor they wear is MORE than able to shield them. So what are you going to do about it?"

Aria faced the glaring A.I and then the Spartans who were very calm while holding their weapons, while the men and women under his command were very wary. Normally she would have called those who would try to extort or threaten her as fools and deal with them in a very quick and public fashion. But these Spartans and A.I were a different league all together. She had seen them slaughter so many of the mercenaries here and not even suffer a single nick on the plating of their armor. And she had seen how this A.I was able to take over so many mechs at once and use them like toys to slaughter even more. So she knew that this A.I was able to back up her claims.

She sighed a bit and deactivated the field and spoke coldly.

"Don't think I am going to forget this."

Cortana nodded and her eyes went back to normal and she spoke.

"We don't expect you to anyway; besides, we're neutral here in this reality so we don't do this every day. Before we go, you might find this data interesting, pertaining to someone you might know well."

Aria raised an eyebrow as Cortana looked at John and the Spartan nodded as he reached into his pack and removed what appeared to be a data-pad and gave it to Aria. The Asari looked at the data and in that brief moment after she was done…she was furious as she looked at it again and swore up a shit storm in her people's language until she spoke out in a cold tone.

"Those fucking bastards…they were actually thinking that they could do this to me AND her?"

John replied to that calmly.

"You don't need to worry, they're ring leaders are already dead."

Aria looked at the Spartan who was apparently the leader and replied.

"You both killed them?"

John and Jorge nodded as the Hungarian replied gently…a surprise in her mind.

"We don't condone slavery of minors, so she is safe, besides, without their bosses giving them the go ahead, we leave them to your people. And since their names are there, you know of them now."

Aria looked at the data-pad again and sat down as she thought it all over and then replied in a calmer fashion.

"Perhaps I was wrong about you three, you did me a favor even if I didn't expect it and I don't forget those who do me favors. And besides, getting rid of those mercs and thugs allows me to keep things organized and under my control. And here in Omega, no one cares for a few dead mercs, and since they made the mistake of crossing me like this, I am going to make damned sure that they know how pissed off I really am. They MIGHT set up shop again, but they are going to be very aware that I am going to be very wary of them."

"As for you three…you're welcome to come here in Omega and you won't be harassed as well, and if you do bring company, make sure to tell us before hand. One more thing, if you are in the mood to go collecting anything here in the systems, here's something for you. These are coordinates to a confirmed number of warehouses owned by the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse here on Omega. Whatever they have is yours to take, which might not be a problem since you three virtually depopulated their numbers here on Omega."

John nodded and replied.

"Thanks, we'll make sure to clean house before we leave."

"Fair enough, shame I can't hire you three, after seeing what you three can do."

Jorge raised an eyebrow and John shook his head a bit and replied.

"I'll not comment on that."

Aria laughed a bit and looked to see that her fellow Asari were also looking at the Spartans with candid interest. And for a very good reason as they had seen the men without their helmets before when they were caught without them on way back in the Citadel due to Aria's contacts managing to bride enough people to obtain images of John and Jorge without the helmets. The men were not very attractive as far as things went, but they were pleasing to the eye despite the pale skin and the scars there. It actually gave them amore…exotic quality. That and the fact that clad in their blood and gore stained armor before them, they gave off an aura of raw power and grace, which was further enhanced by the way they fought.

Aria was no shy Asari Maiden and was already a powerful Matron turning Matriarch and ruler of Omega and ran it with an iron fist covered in potent Biotics and experienced in all forms of fighting. But she could not help but find the men interesting. They were literally demons on the battle field, more than able to live up to the names their enemies gave them. But these demons in her perception had faces of angels to boot, not really handsome but more than enough to make people take notice.

(Demons of war with the faces of angels…how poetic is that?)

Apart from that, there was a level of fear though she did not see it, she had never taken part in the Krogan Rebellions but had seen her share of fighting and knew what fear felt like. She had blasted down her fear before, but that did not mean that she forget what fear felt and tasted like. Only a fool did that, a soon to be dead fool, and she was neither of the two.

"You won't need to, you both can go about your business now, and you should know that I have to thank you, apart from ruling Omega, caring for my daughter is important to me. You three made sure that she will not be taken from me and used as a bargaining chip or sold off as some slave to a sleazy bastard even if I doubt that was your plan. I may be a ruthless and cold hearted bitch here and I couldn't give a fuck what others say about me, but I am a mother as well, and I do know when to show appreciation for something that does not harm family."

"But don't think that means I am on your side, as long as you don't do anything that causes the balance around here in Omega to shift to somewhere I dislike, then I have no problems with you."

John and Jorge nodded as they locked back their helmets and left, not minding the stares some of the Asari gave them, namely disappointment as they were getting used to seeing the Spartans' real faces.

As they left Aria turned to her people and spoke seriously.

"I want you all to find those bastards still alive who think they are going to get away with this bullshit and bring them to me alive…so I can personally turn them inside out!"

One of the others, a Turian then spoke.

"What about the Spartans Aria?"

The Asari then spoke seriously.

"What about them?"

"What do we do about them? They left us a serious mess to clean up, plus they had the balls to hostage you here in Afterlife as well. We can't let them get away with that."

"And how do you propose we do that Raykk? We just saw them decimate at least one thousand five hundred mercs and they came back draped in blood and guts. No, we let them slide this once and since they helped make sure my Lisselle is not in danger, I am going to cut them some slack. Besides that, those boy scouts are neutral, and they did their job, changing Omega is not the reason why they were here to begin with so let's not give them a reason to change their minds."

The others nodded at that as Aria spoke once more.

"I guess a new rule is going to be applied here if they show up."

Anto, one of her tope lieutenants in her organization then spoke next.

"That rule being what Aria?"

"Never get in a Spartan's way."

…

Elsewhere…

"Hmmm…VERY impressive, wouldn't you say so Miranda?"

Miranda said nothing and she was calm on the outside, but inside of her mind, she was very impressed just as the Illusive Man was by the performance of the Spartans. To see the Spartans decimate forces that even by Cerberus standards were difficult to overcome and survive was rather impressive. She could easily see now just how despite their numbers and losses in their reality, the Spartans gained the fear, hatred, and respect of the Covenant, and why they were called Demons by the aliens that declared war on the UNSC.

It did not take long before she turned to the Illusive Man and spoke to him.

"How exactly do we use this sir?"

She had intended to ask just how he got the footage, but naturally decided against it. Cerberus had many cells operating out there in the galaxy, both in Alliance and the Citadel, and thus it would not be unheard of to have cells in Cerberus. In fact she was willing to bet that there would be others that operated well beyond her own knowledge. This only confirmed her personal thoughts on the matter and it would be better that she did not pry deeply into this.

"We will use it to show that the Spartans are indeed capable fighters, and I feel that here in Cerberus itself, we will show to our people just what Humanity can accomplish on their own terms. I think that sending this to the Alliance might make things a lot more interesting as well. Especially to our allies there in Alliance High Command, as well as the people we have in high places."

"I see, there is still the chance it might backfire on us though."

"There is always a chance it can Miranda, I am not foolish enough to say that it will not. Still, even the Alliance would not say no to this, and I have no doubt that the Council will soon be told of this. There would no doubt be agents of their own already operating in Omega at this very moment."

The Illusive Man took a long drag of his cigarette and soon spoke once more as the image of all three members of the UNSC were shown interrogating the ONLY known survivor from the Blue Suns.

"Whether they admit it or not, the Spartans have changed the very face of this galaxy and it's inhabitants Miranda. This only proves it, and we shall make the most of it, it seems we have to accelerate our time table slightly in order to meet them."

"Won't that be dangerous? They are not fools after all."

"True, but no sense not taking a chance to speak to them in a neutral setting, so the only question I have to ask now is. Are you up for the task Miranda?"

The dark haired woman nodded and smiled a bit as she looked at the images of John and Jorge, both with helmets, and without.

"I am."

"Good to know, just learn what you can from them directly, I will not be surprised if difficulty is encountered of course, but we must play it this way. I do not want you to try and recruit them, let them hear our piece and let them decide. As for us, we will learn what we can from them as well. Do not take chances with them and do not try to force their hands here Miranda, while our teams did not make a very good first impression, perhaps an olive branch would be more acceptable."

"Yes sir."

…

In Omega…

The STG team soon took off from Omega in their shuttle and as soon as they were at a secure distance, sent the transmission of the events to both Sur'Kesh and the Citadel. Things have indeed changed, and whether it was for better or worse, it had to be decided by those of their government and the Citadel Council.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There, at least this story has now been completed and I am finally going to get some much needed shuteye for a while now. This chapter is not too bad in my book though I have to accept the fact that the time off the story writing thing has dulled me. I don't know if you all think the same but to me the ending was kind of lacking. But with time being something of a precious commodity as it is, I can't complain too much about it so I have to make due.

Anyway, the battle scenes were pretty hard to pull off since coming up with more than believable death sequences for the enemies that were before John, Jorge, and Cortana demanded I review all the possible ways to kill the enemy. I have no doubt you all have your own takes on how it should have turned out so if you think that you can add to the mayhem with ideas of your own, then go ahead and PM me about them.

…

Just because they actually revealed to Aria that there was a plan to kidnap her daughter and either use her as leverage against her, or sell her as a slave to make her careless, does not mean that Aria is willing to let it slide. She does not trust them but knows already that with their firepower, the Spartans and Cortana can easily wipe her and her people out with out too much trouble. And therefore she is willing to leave them to their own devices but warns that she will not allow them altering the balance of power in Omega.

Not that John, Jorge, and Cortana care that much about it at the moment, part of them wants to help humanity but they are practical people as well. Fighting a war in Omega when they are not part of this reality is not going to be a good thing, and since Omega in their eyes is already known territory, it was not going to be for their benefit.

…

On the next chapter, once I thaw this story after doing my updates, the title will be known as Other Perspectives, and this was for a good reason. This time around in this chapter we are not going to be focusing on John, Jorge, and Cortana, but we will focus on the characters of the ME world in the subject on how they will be dealing with the presence of the Spartans in their reality. This was a long time coming and I have been waiting for me to reach a point where I made this.

Essentially the chapter will focus on the key players, this naturally includes the Citadel Councilors Tevos, Valern, and Mesu. Next will be Captain Anderson, Ambassador Udina, Admiral Hackett, The Shadow Broker, Cerberus Leader 'The Illusive Man', a few other characters, and Miranda Lawson for the time being. And that also includes the members of the team that will one day be part of Commander Shepard's own team when they are fully united.

Here we will see how the characters will deal with the changes that have happened ever since the arrival of the Spartans. Some will be good, others will be bad, All in all, the comments and thoughts will play their own roles in the future chapters.

And yes, I know that Valern is the name of the Salarian Councilor, and Sparatus is the name of the Turian Councilor. But at the time I made this, their real names were not revealed so I will stick with my guns and finish this the way I started. If I do make a new version of this, I shall include the name changes okay?

…

Speaking of chapters…

Trailer:

"Isolate that signal!"

This…Spartan…quest immediate…forcements."

"Clear it up! Get Palmer and Halsey up here now!"

"Sir! Transmission is coming in clear now!"

"This is Spartan 117! Acting Captain of the Forward Unto Dawn, can anyone on this frequency receive me?"

"Spartan-117, this is UNSC Marine Corps Commander Thomas Lasky, we receive you! What is your status over?"

"Heavy fighting in the streets Commander, local forces in the colony cannot fight at full strength and this moment are being routed, currently helping with evacuation of civilian personnel."

"Spartan-117, this is Captain Andrew Del Rio of the UNSC Infinity. We are deploying Spartans and Hell Jumpers to your location now! I need you to coordinate and report to us here on the ship for a full debrief once mission is over, do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

…

Hope that gets your attention, this is still up for debate so if you want this, then tell me. If not, then I will try something else. Think of the whole affair this way.

One big Spartan Reunion + A brand new enemy to fight = A LOT of butts, organic and synthetic being kicked!

…

I recently chatted with a very good friend of mine who is an avid game player, and had a large level of skill about stories and crossovers. He played Mass Effect games, all of them and he did like the games, namely Mass Effect 2, but he felt that the lore of the series is badly flawed. He felt that the Mass Accelerators could be taken further and made better, why use metal rounds the size of grains of sand when you can go larger? Why can't they find a way to go into other systems without Mass Relays?

He felt that even the decision for the Council to bring in the Krogan to fight the Rachni was foolish and stupid since for one he felt that they should have focused on improving their technology to be able to fight the Rachni on their own worlds. The real clincher for his confusion is that why is it that the Citadel Council is acting like a band of incompetent idiots.

In his point of view, if the lore had been done right and a lot of things had been explained better, then the ME universe would be a lot better. He was also annoyed at the fact that the Council said they don't have the resources for more advanced projects. That to him is crap since ONE Asteroid of good size in real life could house all the metal needed to make everything made of metal on Earth and increase that by a factor of five at least.

And I have to admit that he had a lot of good points, which is why I was a bit amused when someone mentioned in the site that it's mostly fanboys of Halo who think that the UNSC can trump all the other ME races.

Let's look at some facts

…

- The MAC Guns: If you were to look at all the data abut them and know that for the fact, these weapons have been around in the UNSC arsenal since 2525 and they are deadly. The standard MAC gun, compared to the Destiny Ascension's Mass Accelerator has a higher level of overall power; I mentioned this before and if you take that into consideration that means that even the weakest UNSC Frigate as the power of a Dreadnaught in ME terms. I already talked about this so no need to read this if you are not interested.

The weapons might be slower in comparison to the ME Mass Accelerator, but they can smash through Kinetic barriers like mad and rip ME ships apart. And if UNSC Frigates have the firepower of an ME Dreadnaught, the UNSC needs to make hundred of these ships and they can easily devastate the ME fleets before brining in the more powerful vessels such as the Destroyers, Cruiser, and Carriers, all of which carry much larger and more advanced versions of the standard MAC Guns

- Smart A.I: I don't need to explain the effectiveness of the Smart A.I since we know of Cortana and her brother and sister A.I units. They are more advanced than most if not all and can adapt and learn unlike with the marked exception of the Geth who are all V.I that learn when linked, but alone are like animals. Smart A.I even when not linked with others can do a lot and combat grade Smart A.I units in all are dangerous especially when used wisely. Cortana's a good example and if the UNSC reverse engineer the technology used in the construction of Forerunner A.I units, then that is a major boost in their overall abilities.

- The UNSC already had a working Gauss Rifle known as the Stanchion and as such it is a show that without E-zero that the ME world rely on, infantry grade coil guns are possible and have been used even if the weapon is not in production. That is made even more so with the Coil-guns used on the Warthogs, the stationary turrets, the units used by John and Jorge, and naturally the Cobra units used in the war with the Covenant. If this is considered, then it's no big deal for the UNSC to soon reactivate the Stanchion, scale down the tech used in it and make their guns all able to be coil-guns.

- Slipspace as I mentioned is a major advantage over the Mass Relays, sure UNSC ships might not be able go FTL in normal space, but that is peanuts compared to the fact that none of them have to go to a Relay of any kind to get from one system to another. Not to mention the fact that none of the ships have to stop and discharge static electricity buildup to avoid killing their crews and frying themselves due to their own developments in ship construction. From a tactical and strategic standpoint, the ability to go anywhere and strike from anywhere is a major advantage. It's also made even more so when you consider the fact that the UNSC did not have anything to help them discover Slipspace and develop the Slipspace Drive, they did it all on their own and with their own time and resources.

- The MJOLNIR series from the Mark I to III, all the way to the current Mark VII and the 2nd Generation MJOLNIR. From the Mark I and III models, the Cyclops Mechs and the HRUNTING/Yggdrassil Powered Assault Skeleton were created into the field. And of course we know the results from the Mark IV to the rest of the MJOLNIR series. All of this was not based on any data they salvaged but from what they developed, upgraded, and reverse engineered.

I don't need to explain the MJOLNIR Mark IV and onwards, and we saw in Halo Wars the Cyclops and in Halo Legends episode Prototype the HRUNTING/Yggdrassil. If the UNSC could make those and improve them with new technological advances and reverse engineered Forerunner and Covenant tech. You are looking at a new combat branch of the UNSC that use Powered Assault Exoskeletons alongside the Armed forces and the Spartan.

I can easily see a six man/woman team of HRUNTING/Yggdrassil operators laying waste to enemy forces like Ghost did easily. Or a strike team of Cyclops armed with Gauss Cannons and Fuel Rods guns laying waste to the battle field alongside Spartans and more.

…

I could go on and on, but we already know this stuff and we have to consider the fact that with the amounts of salvaged Covenant tech that they got, the data, and now the access to Forerunner tech from the Sharpened Shield, the UNSC is shaping up to be a major galactic power.

If these facts are taken into comparison to the lore of ME, you can already see that the ME universe bases ALL of it's tech on the tech left behind by the Reapers. All of which were supposed to help guide them to the paths the Reapers want and thus they do not exactly deviate from the technology since they feel that there is no need for it. Sure the Systems Alliance got their tech accelerated by two centuries by the Prothean cache they found, but that only served to bring them closer to the paths the Reapers wanted.

All in all, I had to admit that in that POV, the ME races despite their abilities are still very much incompetent since they are highly reliant on the tech left behind intentionally by the Reapers and don't take it further since they feel there is no need to. In the same way, while they do develop some of their own tech, it still relies on the same principles while the UNSC have to struggle in order to understand things yet by struggling they gain a greater understanding and are able to do more.

…

And if people argue that the UNSC still use chemical propellant weapons, need I remind you that the Recoilless Rifle that was used in World War 2 is STILL in use by the US Army Rangers since while it's not high tech, it still kicks the crap out of the bad guys? And in same World War II, the Bismarck, the most advanced battleship Germany had was crippled by World War I era Swordfish biplanes because their guns were firing too far and moving too fast to get a lock on the slower planes?

And the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the M-1 Abrams are still in use today because they are still effective and if upgraded wisely, they can still beat the crap out of the enemy. Even bows and crossbows find use in this day and age even when people thought the gun would send these into the trash bin of history.

Just because the tech is old, does not mean it's not able to kill you.

…

Think of it this way, imagine the two universes being students taking an exam for a job at the start of next week. The ME version student gets the cheat sheet which stands for the Reaper tech, while the UNSC version student actually spends the rest of the weekday and weekend studying and doing things through trial and error in order to learn how to do the job.

They both take the test and pass, but once the cheat sheet is no longer useful and discarded, the ME version employee now finds himself/herself unable to grasp the greater aspects of the job as the cheat sheet only gave him the answers but not the process and has to learn on the fly. The UNSC student on the other hand has both the experience and knowledge of the job since he/she took the time to study and did things through trial and error in order to truly grasp it all. And as such is able to grasp new concepts better and faster.

In simple terms, the UNSC would be considered competent and the ME races would be considered incompetent in my friend's POV. And he asked me a simple question.

Can a competent universe be defeated by an incompetent universe?

…

So in closing, if anyone asks ME personally if the UNSC can beat the ME races, do you know my answer?

Answer is: Yes, they can.

Name me one Asari who can make a Biotic barrier that can handle being hit by a Spartan Laser?

And if I get called a fanboy for saying it, who cares? The facts are in this case, on my side.

…

So you all soon!


End file.
